$125,000 club 1. (tie) CSP Solano Chief Psychiatrist Dr. Susan Downs: $166,020 1. (tie) CMF Chief Psychiatrist Larry Dizmang: 166,020 2. Solano County County Administrator Michael Johnson: $156,462 3. Vacaville City Manager John Thompson: $146,602 4. Vacaville City Attorney Charles Lamoree: $143,439 5. CMF Chief Deputy Warden, clinical services Donnie Livingston: $143,316 6. (tie) U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer: $141,300. 6. (tie) U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein: $141,300. 6. (tie) U.S. Rep. Doug Ose: $141,300. 6. (tie) U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson: $141,300. 7. Fairfield City Manager Kevin O'Rourke: $137,940 8. CMF Chief Medical Officer Joseph Bick: $136,020 9. Solano County County Counsel Dennis Bunting: $136,013 10. CMF Chief Medical Officer Raymond Andreasen: $134,172 11. CSP Solano Chief Physician & Surgeon Dr. William Greenough: $131,772 12. Solano County Assistant County Administrator Darby H. Hayes: $130,385 13. Solano County District Attorney David Paulson: $127,644 14. Solano County Deputy Director of H&SS-Health Officer Dr. Thomas Charron: $125,537

Raising bar on exclusive list

Prison doctors top the salary survey

By Robin Miller/City Editor

A salary of $100,000 or more a year may seem a rare and healthy measure of prosperity, but when it comes to public employees in Solano County, it's a figure that comes up more often than you might think.

In past salary surveys, The Reporter has compiled a list of executive managers from local public agencies who made $100,000 or more per year, calling it the "$100,000 Club."

The list has grown in recent years. So for the first time in more than a decade, The Reporter is upping the "club threshold." The highest paid public administrators are now those who make $125,000 or more per year.

"Someone was just saying to me that you ought to increase the club number," Yolanda Irigon, Solano County's Director of Human Resources, said with a laugh.

Indeed, in Solano County government alone, there are 49 individuals who make $100,000 or more per year and not all of them are members of the county's management team.

They include some deputy public defenders and deputy district attorneys, clinic physicians, deputy county counsels, and psychiatrists with the department of Health and Social Services.

Those making $100,000 per year or more are not limited to county government either. Solano's cities and school districts have many employees who would fit the category.

Times have changed.

"I remember the old days when $1,000 a month was a lot of money," Irigon said with a laugh.

The reasons for the growing salaries are varied but Irigon believes it is largely market-driven.

"With the job market the way it is in California, if you're having a hard time recruiting to fill positions, your salary has to be competitive," she said.

"Inflation is also involved," Irigon added. "I heard on the news today that the average home price in the Sacramento area is $175,000 and in the Bay Area it's $550,000. With those kinds of costs, people can't afford to live here (without a higher salary)."

County Administrator Michael Johnson agreed.

"If you look at the positions, they're doctors and lawyers and professionals and to attract and retain these people we have to compete with both private firms and other public agencies," Johnson said.

Johnson, who topped the $100,000 Club list last year, dropped to second place this year on the list.

Of the 18 individuals who made the $125,000 club, four work for California Medical Facility, two work for California State Prison, Solano, two work for Vacaville, one works for the city of Fairfield and five work for Solano County.

Johnson said Solano county has also started an effort to retain employees by paying them longevity for time they served in other public agencies.

"So if they worked in another county, they get credit for it," Johnson explained. "It makes us more competitive."

Public agencies regularly look at other public agency salary ranges in order to compete for employees.

"What the public sector does is survey other public sector agencies," said Mary McCarthy, president of Solano Economic Development Corporation. "Rarely do they look at private sector. They find other counties ... that pay well and use that to justify their increases."

SEDCORP is an organization, funded by the seven cities in Solano County, which markets the county for business development.

What a typical top executive in the private sector earns is hard to tell, McCarthy said.

"It all depends on the company, the skills required and responsibilities of the job," she said. "More enlightened companies that require their managers to be active in the community tend to be higher paying."

Being in the private sector is no guarantee of higher pay, though, she said.

"It used to be that the government sold loyalty by offering job security. Today, my gut feeling is, that the public sector is (paid) higher than then private sector," she said. "Certainly the benefit packages are not matched anywhere I know of in the private sector."