Critics Decry Rail Agency Chief’s Pay

The director of a small government agency planning $450 million in railway improvements in Placentia is one of the highest paid transportation officials in the state, earning more than the head of Caltrans and the chief of San Francisco’s municipal rail line.

Since February, community activists have targeted the contract of OnTrac manager Christopher Becker, whose annual consulting fees and city salary combined topped $500,000 last year.

Critics say that Becker, the city’s former public works director, is overpaid and obtained his consulting contract without competitive bids in April 2000, when he was selected to head the rail project by Placentia’s mayor, redevelopment director and his boss -- the city manager.

Becker’s contract allowed him to keep his $125,000-a-year job as Placentia’s public works director, in case funding for the rail project dried up. For nearly three years, he collected both his salary and consulting fees that averaged nearly $320,000 a year, peaking at $380,000 in 2002.

At the urging of community activists and city officials worried about Placentia’s worsening finances, Becker’s consulting fees have been lowered from $200 to $150 an hour, and he relinquished his city paycheck by resigning as public works director.

Becker said his agency has been getting a good deal for its money because of his expertise on the rail project and his knowledge of Placentia.

And unlike other public works jobs, Becker said, the rail project does not include an expensive layer of government workers.

Although he pushed to cut Becker’s pay, Mayor Scott Brady defends Becker as a dedicated worker whose long experience in Placentia makes him a “natural fit” for the OnTrac job.

But a group of critics who have been examining city spending say the pay is still out of line.

“He is way overpaid,” said Greg Sowards of Citizens for a Better Placentia, a community group that united when the town’s finances became so tight that the City Council considered eliminating the Police Department. “We should not be paying him $150 an hour when you can hire a government official to do the same job for less.”

Becker is executive director of the Orange North American Trade Rail Access Corridor, known as OnTrac. It is a government authority, similar to the Alameda Corridor in Los Angeles County, and is designed to speed rail commerce through the region and reduce its impact on cities by getting trains below ground in a concrete-lined trench and out of the way of vehicle traffic with new overpasses and underpasses. The OnTrac segment is on a major east-west rail line that serves the bustling ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.

The work also coincides with an adjacent redevelopment project in Old Town Placentia.

Unlike other public works projects, the Placentia agency relies on private consultants. Policy is set by a three-member board -- the mayor, city manager and redevelopment director. Though Becker oversees the project, much of the work is farmed out to other consultants.

“I have delivered a valuable project for the community,” said Becker. “I’ve been involved in all the studies. I’ve developed rapport with the railroads and overcome the negatives. We have kept costs down compared to other agencies with all their overhead.”

Critics such as Sowards and Placentia resident Craig Green, however, say costs could be kept in check if the city simply asked a more modestly paid government employee to oversee the project.

City records show that between April 2000 -- when his original contract went into effect -- and October 2003, Becker netted about $1.07 million from consulting fees alone.

In the fiscal year ending July 2002, those fees amounted to $380,000, including reimbursement for some travel. In addition, he received his $125,000 public works salary.

By comparison, Caltrans Director Jeff Morales earns about $125,000 a year, plus benefits, to oversee a $6.7-billion annual budget. The director of construction of the Alameda Corridor project -- a $2.5-billion rail project designed to help move cargo from the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports -- makes $245,000. And the chief executive of the Orange County Transportation Authority earns $175,000 a year to manage a $787-million annual budget.

Surveys show salaries of top-ranking officials of major transportation agencies in California in 2001 ranged from a low of $144,000 a year to a high of $300,000.

Placentia has spent between $10 million to $12 million for the OnTrac project so far. An additional $7.5 million has come from the county transportation authority and $15 million more from the state. About $225 million is being sought from the federal government, but the fate of this request is uncertain, meaning the project could be greatly reduced or even canceled.

After starting the project as the city’s public works director, Becker became a private consultant and obtained his first OnTrac contract in April 2000. Under the agreement, his pay was to be $200 an hour and the job was expected to last 10 years.

He was required to pay for minor office expenses and local travel.

At the time, city officials said the deal was effective because it capitalized on Becker’s experience and availability. Finding someone else with his knowledge and background would have been difficult since the project could be canceled if federal funding was not secured.

Such thinking changed earlier this year when Placentia’s finances began to worsen and city activists increased their scrutiny of City Hall spending.

In March, Becker’s hourly rate was lowered from $200 to $150 an hour at the request of Mayor Brady, who sits on the OnTrac board.

Brady, who was not mayor when the initial contract was approved, said it appeared to him that Becker was making too much money.

He also worried that it looked bad for Becker to be holding down his City Hall job and his post with the rail agency.

“You can’t serve two masters,” Brady said.

Becker agreed to the pay cut and stepped down as public works director, halting his government salary.

He denied that critics like Green and Sowards had anything to do with his pay cut. He described them as “two guys with an ax to grind.”

Under the redrawn contract, Becker can make $288,000 a year if he puts in an average 40-hour week and takes one month of vacation. But, according to past billings, he often works 50- or 60-hour weeks.

So far, city records show he has been paid about $178,900 in fees and reimbursements from late March through mid-October.

Having resigned his public works position, he no longer draws a salary from Placentia.

His compensation could go higher, however. Under the revised contract, Becker can receive a 15% administrative fee based on the value of other consulting contracts issued for OnTrac.

“It is a major project,” Brady said.

“Without Chris Becker we would not be able to proceed with redevelopment. He is fully qualified to go forward with this.”

Brady also dismissed Becker’s critics as shortsighted and asserted there was broad public support for OnTrac and the Old Town redevelopment project.

“There is nothing criminal here,” he said. “The city is just trying to do its best for the community.”