Spotlight Heats Up on Public Officials' Salaries

BizFed member California League of Cities is working on drafting proposals the Legislature can consider toward publicizing the salaries of the highest-paid public officials in the state in the wake of revelations that the Southern California city of Bell paid three of its top administrators a total of $1.6 million a year.

The situation in Bell has sparked outrage and calls for increased transparency across the state as cities cut public services amid the economic crunch. On Thursday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke to the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and urged cities to post public officials' salaries on websites if they have nothing to hide.To read the full story, click here.

The Governor's Office has posted the salaries for senior staff in the governor's office, deputies, agency secretaries, agency undersecretaries and department directors - although the majority of state employees are not listed on the site. To see the list, click here.

Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel has posted the salaries of virtually all city employees online. To access that database, click here. 

The LA Daily News has a database of city worker salaries on its site from a series it published in late 2008. To access that database, click here.