HUNTINGTON BEACH : Salary Data on All City Workers Sought

A City Council member said Friday he will request salary information on all of the city’s 1,102 full-time employees.

Councilman Ralph Bauer said he will also ask the City Council at Tuesday’s meeting to direct the Finance Board to conduct a review of all salaries and overtime practices.

The councilman’s requests follow the recent release of information showing that the 25 highest-paid city employees in 1994 had salaries and benefits ranging from $126,000 to $174,000, with some workers earning more than $30,000 in overtime pay.

Bauer said he wants salary information for all permanent employees. “It’s a lot of people, but I don’t know where to draw the line,” he said.

The information should be made public, Bauer said, because “the people need to know how their money is being spent.”

He said there is much general concern among residents about how much city workers are paid. “My attitude is to open the system up to regain the confidence of the public,” he said.

The city must offer competitive compensation packages, however, to attract and keep qualified and competent personnel, he said. So he will also suggest that the Finance Board compare salaries of Huntington Beach’s employees with those in cities with which it competes for prospective employees.