It’s good work, if you can get it. A city councilman for Bell,
Calif., a small Southern California town about the same size as
Morgan Hill earns $100,000 a year for a part-time job.
It’s good work, if you can get it. A city councilman for Bell, Calif., a small Southern California town about the same size as Morgan Hill earns $100,000 a year for a part-time job.
Compare that to Morgan Hill’s council members, who earn $313 a month, a far cry from those hard-working council members in Bell. And the city administrator? He earned $787,637 a year, more than twice what President Barack Obama earns and way more than the $184,800 Morgan Hill City Manager Ed Tewes earns. The police chief? How about $457,000, more than the police chief of Los Angeles, with 3.8 million residents, and more than Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming’s $165,180 annual salary.
So, how is it that seemingly honest people can sink to such depths? One reason is that there is not now – nor was there in 2005 when the city administrator and council members brought a measure before the voters that changed the city charter, giving them the power to increase their pay – a community newspaper.
Clearly, abuse of the public purse can occur anywhere, especially when no one is watching. The media must continue to serve that watchdog role, as the L.A. Times did in Bell after a concerned citizen tipped off a reporter. Newspaper reporters and editors are often not popular when they request salary information, but this is why. It’s not done for prurient, pointless nosiness, It’s done to keep officials honest and shine the light on important issues.
But news hounds can’t do it alone. California is home to 58 counties, 481 cities, more than 3,400 special districts and more than 1,000 school districts. To ferret out malfeasance, reporters and editors depend on citizens.
In addition, local elected officials should post complete budgets, including salary and benefit information, on their city’s website. The state Legislature should pass a law that requires municipalities to post such information in a user-friendly format. Yes, the information is available through public records requests, but it should be more accessible to all.
Transparency and examination are the first steps in the overhaul process. Then, voters need to pay attention, and hold elected officials accountable, especially at the local level.
As the city of Bell demonstrates, the cost of disengaging is indeed high.
