UPDATE 12/01/10 7:00am | California State Controller John Chiang announced in August 2010 new reporting requirements for all California cities and counties, directing them to clearly identify elected officials and public employees’ compensation.

Click here to access the City of Long Beach employee pay data from the State Controller’s web site.

According to Controller Chiang, under current law, local governments are required to transmit summary information about their revenues and expenditures to the State Controller’s office. Payroll information is included in the total amount listed for each category of program, such as public protection, health and welfare, and governing body. The data is compiled and used to produce annual reports for the Legislature. The Controller’s new rules require cities and counties to provide the salaries for each classification of elected official, such as mayor and supervisor, and public employee, such as city manager and county administrator.

City and counties generally are required to provide the information to the Controller by mid-October of each year. 

UPDATE 5/20/10 6:00pm | On May 11, 2010, the lbpost.com launched CityPay, an online City employee pay database. The data used for CityPay was obtained by the lbpost.com in February 2010 through a California Public Records Act request to the Office of the Long Beach City Attorney.  Over the last week, Long Beach City Manager Pat West and Assistant City Manager Suzanne Frick have been reviewing the City employee pay data previously released to the lbpost.com. It was understood by the lbpost.com that the City would provide revised data and explanations of any revisions. 
 
However, yesterday, Assistant City Manager Frick informed the lbpost.com via email that the City of Long Beach has “decided to stick with the list previously provided to (lbpost.com). While the list has some inaccuracies, the differences are not significant. However, the time and resources it takes to prepare and vet out a new list are significant. Given our work demands because of budget preparation, we’re not going to produce a new list.”

Therefore, due to the lbpost.com not receiving revised City employee pay data from the City of Long Beach, we have decided to disable the CityPay feature.

UPDATE 5/19/10 1:50pm | The lbpost.com CityPay feature is temporarily disabled to prepare our database system for the anticipated revised employee pay data from the City of Long Beach.
 
UPDATE 5/17/10 11:45am | Long Beach City Manager Pat West and Assistant City Manager Suzanne Frick are in the process of reviewing the City employee pay data previously released to the lbpost.com under the California Public Records Act and will be in contact with the lbpost.com with any of the City’s revisions and explanations of any City revisions. The lbpost.com has yet to receive any revised City data as of this morning. The CityPay feature will be updated upon receipt of the City’s revised data. 

UPDATE 05/12/10 9:30am | It was made abundantly clear by many dedicated lbpost.com readers in the comment section below regarding our new CityPay feature that my decision as this newspaper’s publisher to launch CityPay was not a popular one.
 
I fully understand this reaction.
 
I also hope that our readers understand our point of view in why we launched CityPay.
 
First, the Long Beach City employee’s pay data from Fiscal Year 2009 made available through CityPay was obtained by the lbpost.com in February 2010 through a California Public Records Act request to the Office of the Long Beach City Attorney. The data was not modified by the lbpost.com and therefore the CityPay feature represents the exact information provided to the lbpost.com by the Office of the Long Beach City Attorney.
 
Second, the sole intent of the CityPay feature, like other public employee pay data features such as the Sacramento Bee’s State Pay, is to provide the public with access to information that the public has the right to access. Anyone is afforded the right to access this information through a California Public Records Act request. Also, the law dictates that access to financial information of public employees, including the names of associated public employees, is a fundamental and necessary right of every person.
 
Third, many comments in the CityPay story noted that the lbpost.com violated City employees’ privacy. We have no motivation to devalue the importance of city employees. City employees are hardworking, dedicated public servants who serve the people of Long Beach each and every day. The fact is clear, however, City employee’s names and their associated taxpayer-funded pay is public information because they (city employees) are public employees. The courts have upheld that the release of public employee’s names and associated pay information through media features like CityPay is outweighed by the people’s interest in the disclosure of it. Openness in government is essential to the functioning of a democracy and transparency in Long Beach government is no exception.
 
Fourth, in our democratic process there is an understanding that City government should be accountable for its actions. In order to verify accountability, the people must have access to government files and information. This access allows for checks against the random exercise of official power and secrecy in the political process. Again, the information provided in CityPay was provided by the City, was not altered by the lbpost.com, and was only made available through CityPay so that the people may have increased information to hold its City government accountable.

Finally, it is our hope, that moving forward with this increased information will only provide more opportunities for debate and discussion. Debate and discussion allows for a better understanding of how our City government works and for progress to be made. I encourage a meaningful and respectful continued debate on this issue and in order to do so, CityPay will remain a part of the lbpost.com.
 
Shaun Lumachi
Publisher
Long Beach Post, Inc.
 
05/11/10 9:00am | In this day and age of budget cutbacks, shortfalls and general emergencies, the issue of government transparency is more important than ever. Nearly all levels of government have worked themselves into trouble over the years, and as they now attempt to dig themselves out, taxpayers deserve a few answers.

Where is our money going? How is it being spent?

Today, the lbpost.com introduces CityPay, a new tool for an inside look into local government spending. With CityPay, you can input the name of any Long Beach CIty employee to find their pay in Fiscal Year 2009. The goal of CityPay is simply to provide lbpost.com readers with information, in the interest of increasing transparency.

Reminder: Comments are reviewed individually by lbpost.com staff. It may take some time for comments to appear due to the sheer amount of comments to be reviewed. Click here to review our Comments Policy. Thank you.