What you paid them

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The number of city workers who earn more than

$100,000 a year has gone up more than 150% since the Independent began

publishing the payroll list five years ago.

This past year, records reveal, the annual salaries of 49 city officials

exceeded $100,000, or roughly 5% of the city work force. Five years ago,

only 18 employees earned a salary of more than $100,000.

But when benefits, overtime and other perks are tossed in, the number of

employees costing taxpayers more than $100,000 a year has climbed to 224,

or nearly a fourth of the city’s work force.

Five years ago, some 162 employees had a total compensation in excess of

$100,000. Those salary numbers were obtained only after a yearlong legal

battle by the Independent, which culminated when a judge ordered the city

to hand over the salary figures.

“It appears that the council’s resolve to maintain reasonable salaries

has turned to marshmallow,” City Councilman Dave Sullivan said.

Administrators concede the numbers may appear staggering but point out

that much of the higher compensation figures are due to overtime, often

within the police and fire ranks.

“People’s eyes will roll around,” said Bill Osness, the city’s director

of personnel. “It all seems to be, ‘Wow, how can he be making so much

money?”’

Osness says that paying overtime is typically cheaper than hiring a new

employee because the city saves the expense of training and benefits. The

city pays 50% more per hour for employees who work overtime.

But the overtime figure is significant. Last year, the latest figures

show, the city spent nearly $3.8 million in overtime costs alone for the

224 employees on the list. Nearly all of the extra hours being racked up

are by firemen, paramedics and police officers.

That $3.8 million could cover the salaries of 88 officers hired out of

the academy at a starting pay of $42,960 -- which is what the city pays

its rookies.

But paying overtime is the only option for the Police Department because

the base pay is so low, union president Russ Reinhart said.

“We’ve got a bunch of openings, and nobody’s applying to work here,” he

said.

City Administrator Ray Silver disagreed, however, saying the city has

“hundreds” of applicants for the Police Department. And Reinhart’s gripes

about the money has a lot to do with upcoming labor negotiations, he

said.

“The comments from Officer Reinhart are simply the standard prelabor

negotiation maneuvering by the [Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn.],”

Silver said.

Silver is the city’s top administrator and was also its top wage earner

last year, earning a salary of $148,835. With his benefits tossed in,

Silver came away with a total compensation package of $169,788.

The second-highest on the total compensation list was a deputy fire

marshal who earned more than $50,000 in overtime and came away with a

total package of $158,957 -- more than the fire chief, police chief or

the city attorney.

While City Atty. Gail Hutton has been under the microscope for her

salary, the list shows that there are actually 18 other city workers

whose compensation package exceeds hers, 12 of them firefighters or

police officers.

Fire Chief Charles Reynolds earned $118,257 and had a total compensation

package of $156,072. Police Chief Ron Lowenberg earned $122,284 and had a

total compensation of $153,335.

Overtime was a chief factor in pushing many workers into the $100,000

range. While Deputy Fire Marshal Gary Finney made the largest amount of

overtime -- $50,328 -- many earned solid five-digit overtime figures. One

police officer collected nearly as much in overtime, $47,000, as he did

in regular pay, $52,000. And 25 pulled down more than $30,000 in overtime

last year.

Still, City Councilwoman Shirley Dettloff maintains that residents are

getting a “wonderful bargain.”

“Nobody has a 9-to-5 job in City Hall,” she said. “When I’m at City Hall,

I see lights burning way into the night.”

Resident Chuck Scheid, a City Hall watchdog and chairman of the city’s

finance board, doesn’t buy the notion that city employees are working

selflessly.

“I don’t have any perception that there are a lot of people working

overtime that they’re not getting paid for,” he said.

Daniel Barber, a professor of public policy and administration at Cal

State Long Beach, said the fact that 5% of the city’s employees make a

salary of $100,000 or more is “right on target” when compared to similar

cities. The pay isn’t too high because, like other coastal cities,

Huntington Beach is difficult to administer because of environmental

problems.

Barber would not comment on benefits because they are packaged in so many

different ways from city to city that a side-by-side comparison would be

misleading, he said.

What’s truly unfair is that the taxpayers are stuck with the burden of

carrying those benefits, said Sullivan, who was elected eight years ago

after campaigning against high city salaries and the practice of “salary

spiking,” which is now illegal.

“I think compared to the average citizen, the benefits paid to employees

of Huntington Beach are extremely generous,” he said.

During his campaign for office, Sullivan coined the phrase “Rolls Royce

benefits,” which includes top-of-the-line pensions, he said.

“How many people have jobs where they can retire [with a full pension] at

age 55?” he asked.

The City Council decides who makes how much. Considering the raises the

council approved last month, the list for at least the next two years

promises to grow even longer. On Jan. 18, the council voted to increase

the payroll by about $2 million more this year and close to $3 million

more next year. The city has justified the raises by pointing to a

city-sponsored study that recommends its employees make as much or more

than 75% of municipal employees in similar cities.

Scheid warned the council about wasting taxpayers’ money.

“You are really giving away the store, folks,” he said.