Sunday • December 15, 2002

Paper's salary survey turns to silver

By Diane Barney and Robin Miller/Reporter Editors

July 25, 1974. Newspapers across the country reported the U.S. Supreme Court's order that President Richard Nixon turn over 64 tapes of secretly recorded White House conversations. Millions watched televised impeachment hearings that night.

And in Vacaville, a modest effort to hold public servants accountable was published for the first time in The Reporter: a rundown of top officials' salaries.

Time passed and although there were a few lapses in publishing the survey, today you hold in your hands The Reporter's 25th effort: the silver anniversary of our Survey of Top Public Servants' Pay.

The survey has grown through the years. In 1974, it focused on Vacaville city and Solano County government, a smattering of special districts, California Medical Facility and Travis Air Force Base. The numbers included only base pay figures.

Today's survey covers not only base pay, but all benefits and compensation paid to managers in all seven cities, the county, special districts, school districts, local prisons, Travis Air Force Base, as well as our state and national legislators.

For the first time, readers will find figures from Vallejo and Benicia included in the survey. The Reporter teamed up with its sister newspaper, The Vallejo Times-Herald, to compile this year's list of 729 names. The Vallejo publication will print the same agency-by-agency breakdown in its first-ever salary survey this month.

Since The Reporter's first survey, much has changed. Vacaville's population has more than tripled, from 28,950 to 92,300, according to the California Department of Finance.

The cost of living has grown by 311 percent.

In 1974, we highlighted the salaries of only 15 members of Vacaville's management team. Today that list numbers 23.

Back then, Vacaville's city manager Walter Graham earned $30,600 a year as a base salary. John Thompson will step down from the city manager's post at the end of this year with a $241,781 base salary.

Of course in today's economy, Graham's salary would be worth about $95,000.

The police chief in 1974 was James Lehman, who earned $22,200. Police Chief Bob Harrison now earns a base salary of $127,453. Fire Chief Howard Wood earned $20,160 28 years ago. Fire Chief Frank Moore today earns $120,495 as a base salary.

The inaugural Vacaville school list noted 22 salaries, and covered 12 campus. Today's list includes 53 names and 21 institutions of learning.

As for the county, 38 names made the list in 1974. Today's list shares figures for 58 managers.

But through the years, one thing has remained constant.

Supervisor Bill Carroll has been included in every single survey.

Back then he was a Vacaville City Councilman earning a yearly stipend of $2,075. In his final year as a county supervisor, he earned a total compensation package of $101,709 which includes a $73,922 base salary.

Does he mind the public scrutiny?

"No. I think it's important because we're weighed against so many things, private sector and so forth," he said of the survey.

But will he miss it now that he's leaving public office?

"No," he admitted quickly.