City Salaries Remain Among Region's Highest

San Ramon once again reported some of the highest public employee salaries of any municipality in the Tri-Valley last year.

The city paid 103 of its 240 employees more than $100,000 last year, according to a report released this week.

Former City Manager Herb Moniz – who retired this month – topped the list with the $357,100 he took home in 2010. That’s slightly less than the $359,669 salary he reported the year before.

Moniz’s salary was criticized last year when a survey by the League of California Cities named it among the highest in the Bay Area. During election season last fall, state Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, used the city manager’s salary in her ads against her opponent, San Ramon Mayor H. Abram Wilson, to undermine his claims of being a fiscal conservative.

Wilson and City Councilman Dave Hudson repeatedly defended the city manager’s pay, saying his decades of experience and leadership were worth the cost.

As of March 9, Moniz is retired and City Council has yet to publicly announce his replacement.

The salary for the next city manager will be substantially lower, according to city officials.

Overtime pay

Most city salaries that topped the just-released list climbed over the $100,000 barrier because of overtime.

More than half of those six-figure wage earners work in the police department.

The salary range for San Ramon police officers in 2010 was $79,176 to $98,964. But one police office made $195,850 with overtime.

Police Chief Scott Holder took home $190,970.

Top earners

The city has nine departments, ranging in size from one employee to dozens. The highest salaries belong to people in charge of those departments.

Cheryl Wade, director of the city manager’s office, earned $185,120 in 2010.

A total of $197,287 went to Administrative Services Director Greg Rogers.

Planning and Community Development Director Phil Wong earned $194,525.

Engineering Services Director Maria Fierner was paid $168,672.

The city paid Public Services Director Karen McNamara $197,410.

Marc Fontes, who’s in charge of the Economic Development Department and the Redevelopment Agency, was paid $196,123.

Five employees retired last year, said personnel director Toni Renault. Those retirements upped the reported salary on the list, she said.

The pay range for Administrative Services Division Manager Pat Perry, for example, tops out at $151,000. Her reported salary last year came to more than $207,000, however, because she cashed out vacation time, Renault said.

As an embattled economy and state budget crisis has forced San Ramon to do more with less, personnel and finance division staff are discussing ways to encourage more city workers to retire.

And, since 2009, the city has had a hiring and pay freeze in effect.

Public employee salaries came under the microscope last year after an Los Angeles Times investigation uncovered public corruption in the town of Bell in Los Angeles County, where the city manager paid himself an $800,000 annual salary.

In reaction to the scandal, State Controller John Chiang of salaries in more than 400 California municipalities.

The Contra Costa Times had also published its own list, which actually included the names of employees.

Read the attached pdf to read the entire list.