While voters have had a say in San Francisco’s pension obligations, they’ve had little input into the shocking salaries paid to the city’s public servants. Last week, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on its front page that more than one in three members of the city’s workforce earned $100,000 or more in 2009. (To be clear: that figure does not include pension and health-care benefits.) At the top of San Francisco’s pay pyramid in 2009 was Charles Keohane, a deputy police chief who retired last year. Through redeeming sick days and unused vacation, Keohane managed to bring home $516,118—more than twice what Mayor Gavin Newsom (who placed 29th on the list) earned. The newspaper asked Keohane how it felt to take first place in the city’s salary sweepstakes. “Not so good, if it’s going to get my name in the paper,” Keohane replied candidly. Meanwhile, city workers in San Francisco make, on average, 20 percent more than private-sector employees, according to California’s Employment Development Department. All this while overall unemployment in California persists at 12.6 percent.
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1 comment:
The website http://www.sanfranciscosalaries.com provides a comprehensive list of any employee who worked for San Francisco last year. It is truly amazing how much was paid out in overtime. It seems like the city could increase their police and fire force by 50% of police officers and firefighters and still pay out the same amount. Fiscally Irresponsible.
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