San Jose’s police chief and city manager each raked in nearly a half million dollars in salary and benefits in 2016, topping their counterparts at more than 200 other California cities, new compensation data released Monday show.
Police Chief Eddie Garcia cost taxpayers $497,000 in pay and benefits, according to records released Monday by a Las Vegas nonprofit, Transparent California. City Manager Norberto Duenas was right behind Garcia at $492,000 in pay and benefits.
The distinction for San Jose was notable, especially after battles over paychecks and pensions led to an exodus of rank-and-file officers in recent years in America’s 10th-largest city.
Garcia said he was “somewhat surprised” that his compensation was tops among California’s police chiefs for whom complete pay and benefit information is available.
“But there’s a big difference between total compensation and take-home pay,” said Garcia, who grossed $245,000 in regular pay and $19,000 in other pay, which can include uniform allowances and educational incentives. His benefits totaled $233,000 for medical insurance and employer-paid contributions to his retirement.
“At the same time, I don’t want to sound defensive,” he said. “That’s the salary range, and I’m quite frankly humbled and thankful.”
Several other Bay Area police chiefs were paid more than San Jose’s chief in base pay, including those in Santa Clara, Mountain View, Redwood City and San Francisco, where Toney Chaplin, a department veteran who spent most of 2016 as acting police chief, received base pay of $297,000.
Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck topped all chiefs with $347,000 in base pay, but the chief’s total compensation wasn’t clear because Los Angeles did not release the complete cost of benefits, according to Transparent California.
Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern topped all sheriff’s with $633,857 in pay and benefits, including $321,445 in benefits — the highest of more than 600,000 public employees listed in the survey.
The San Jose Police Officers’ Association declined to comment about Garcia’s pay.
In February, the city and its officers ratified a new contract promising 20 percent raises over the next 3 1/2 years. The pay hike is part of a major recruitment effort after the department shrunk from 1,400 officers in 2008 to just over 900.
Duenas’ pay and benefits were about $25,000 more than the next highest-compensated city manager, David Cavazos of Santa Ana in Orange County, who totaled nearly $477,000. San Jose Assistant City Manager David Sykes’ $479,000 in pay and benefits topped Cavazos.
Duenas said San Jose includes pension and retiree health care in compensation calculations — which is different from other cities — and that he and Garcia are “nowhere near the top of the pay range, neither regionally or statewide” considering that distinction.
He also believes his pay is appropriate for his job duties and a career spanning more than two decades at City Hall. “I do believe that I’m more than fairly compensated for the work that I do today and for the positions I’ve held with the city for over 25 years,” Duenas said.
Palo Alto’s James Keene was right behind Cavazos at nearly $477,000. Fremont City Manager Frederick Diaz was the next highest in the Bay Area at $411,000.
Still, Alameda County Administrator Susan Muranishi was the third-highest paid public employee in the state, grossing $740,965 in pay and benefits last year.
San Jose spokesman David Vossbrink noted that Duenas manages “more than 6,000 employees and a $3 billion annual budget affecting the quality of life of more than one million residents” and “should be appropriately compensated reflecting the magnitude of the job and the impact on the community.”
The highest-compensated city government employee in the data was Michael Rubino, a chief bar pilot for the city of Los Angeles, who grossed $595,000. Two other Los Angeles bar pilots also topped $500,000 in salary and benefits.
The report also highlighted Bay Area public employees who took home six-figure overtime pay in 2016.
In Oakland, Kenny Lau, an engineer in the city planning department, racked up $299,000 in overtime last year, records show. Oakland pay data obtained from the city since 2008 show Lau is routinely a top overtime earner. City officials have said most of his work is funded through fees for development applications. Lau grossed $494,000 in pay and benefits last year, data show.
Neither Lau nor Interim Planning Director Darin Ranellett returned messages Monday.
Preetpal Dhaliwal, an Oakland firefighter, grossed $263,174 in overtime last year, the sixth-highest overtime pay in the survey and an Oakland officer, Malcolm Miller, grossed $157,000 in overtime last year and was paid $463,000 in cash and benefits.
Michael Wester, a Mountain View firefighter, grossed $234,000 in overtime on his way to $484,000 in cash and benefits for 2016.
Staff writer Robert Salonga contributed to this story.
