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After 22 years, we're still fine-tuning this salary survey process

By Karen Nolan/Reporter Correspondent

The Reporter has been tracking the salaries of top public employees for more than 22 years. You'd think by now we would have it down pat.

You would be wrong.

Every year — after the survey is published, of course — someone asks, "Why didn't you report on so-and-so?"

Sometimes the answer is, "Because so-and-so isn't a manager." Far too often, though, it is, "Because we didn't know so-and-so existed."

This year, we tried to head off those calls. We tried to survey public entities that never were surveyed before. We tried to ensure the agencies we usually contact were giving us all the information.

We tried. But our success was limited.

In fairness, part of the problem was with us. We didn't track down the new agencies that ignored our requests or the ones that sent incomplete information. We vow to do better next year.

Some folks apparently were unclear on the concept. The manager of the Vaca-ville-Elmira Cemetery District sent us a nice letter about the district's five board members. Each is entitled to stipends of up to $100 per month, yet they "have never requested payment and see their presence as a community service." He neglected, however, to include any information about his own salary and benefits — and perhaps he doesn't see his job as a community service.

Part of the problem lies in how we phrased our questions. An inquiry about health benefits, for instance, brought a "yes" response from one agency, instead of the details about the benefits we were seeking.

Part of the problem is that we still don't always know what to look for. Our inquiry to Solano County, for instance, triggered the question, "Why do you want information about that person? He's not a

manager." It turns out the position was folded into another department long ago. In straightening it all out, we ended up doubling the number of county managers included in this year's survey.

But too late we learned that county employees take part in Social Security, in addition to the retirement system we knew about. Now that we know to ask about both, we will.

Next year. Maybe then we'll finally get it down pat.

• The author is a columnist and writer for The Reporter.