More scrutiny for public paychecks

Continuing revelations about salary and pension abuses in the city of Bell have stoked popular outrage and served as a wake-up call for elected officials up and down the state.

But while Bell officials have largely stonewalled the press and public in releasing key information, the county of Los Angeles has long posted elected officials’ salary and tenure information, as well as a payroll list of all County employee job classifications and salary ranges. However, with department head compensation listed only by salary schedule code—not by name—the public can’t readily determine exactly what they’re paying those top executives.

To shed some light on the issue, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has authored a motion to be placed on the Board of Supervisors’ agenda for August 10. The motion would require that within two weeks the county’s Chief Executive Officer and Auditor-Controller compile, post online and regularly update detailed salary information for all county department heads by name, similar to the posting for the county elected officials.

Meantime, State Controller John Chiang has announced that he will begin collecting and posting detailed local government salary information for the state’s 58 counties and 480 incorporated municipalities.

Posted 8/3/10