ANAHEIM : Proposal to Disclose City Salaries Goes to Council

A proposal to disclose the total annual compensation of all full-time municipal employees is among the items on the agenda for next week’s City Council meeting.

The disclosure recommendation came from the council-appointed Budget Advisory Commission, which is exploring how salary and benefit packages for city management and rank-and-file employees compare to those in the private sector.

“There’s an old argument,” said Councilman Bob Zemel, who requested a public discussion of the issue. “We conservatives consistently say that [municipal] salaries should not exceed those in the private sector. And the people in public service are consistently saying that they don’t. I just want to put an end to it. I want to see where Anaheim stands.”

In other matters at Tuesday’s session, the council will get an update on a proposal to station an Immigration and Naturalization Service officer at the Anaheim City Jail. The officer would help identify illegal immigrants before their arraignments.

Zemel, who is spearheading the INS project with Councilman Tom Tait, said that hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested in Anaheim fail to appear in court after being released on their own recognizance.

“It’s a matter of criminals not even going to trial,” Zemel said. “The judge needs to know before he arraigns them . . . if they are flight risks.”

Zemel added that a two-month survey at the jail found that 38% of those arrested admitted they were in the country illegally.