How Do Pleasanton Employee Salaries Compare?

In comparison to other Tri-Valley cities, two of Pleasanton's top paid employees represent the highest and the lowest paid in their positions.

City Manager Nelson Fialho ($216,982) received the least in annual compensation and other benefits compared to his counterparts in surrounding municipalities. On the other hand, Chief of Police Michael Fraser's compensation of $212,701 makes him the highest paid chief lawmaker around the Tri-Valley.

Fialho said he was pleased that his salary is the lowest compared to city managers in Dublin, Livermore, Danville and San Ramon.

"Pleasanton treats me well ... the fiscal rewards has never been part of my frame of mind," said Fialho.

The figures were compiled as part of a recent survey by the Bay Area News Group, which looked at public employee salaries around the Bay Area.

As cities around the region continue to grapple with declining revenues, city employee salaries and overall operating costs is one area being scrutinized.

"Public sector salary and benefits are a difficult issue," said Fialho. "We have to attract and retain good talent but on the other hand, we have competing pressures with the economy."

Fialho said the City of Pleasanton remains active in finding ways to trim the budget without affecting services. In the past few years, the city has eliminated about 40 positions, some through attrition. The city is also working to reform its pension system to a two-tiered structure, Fialho said.

Under the different structure, newer employees get less lucrative benefits in recognition of the current economic conditions. In addition, city managers have decided to forgo pay raises in the past year. Fialho said he has declined a pay raise for the past three years.

Such cuts have helped the city maintain a balanced budget despite a $5 million decrease in revenues. The city's latest mid-year budget review shows that sales tax revenue is at the same level as 10 years ago.

The employee salary survey shows that 30 percent of full-time city employees (489) are paid more than $100,000 in annual compensation. In comparison, the median household income for Pleasanton in 2008 was $136,593.

Last year, four city employees, including Fialho and Fraser, made more than $200,000. The two highest earners from last year were retirees -- former City Attorney Michael Roush received a total of $302,210 and former Financial Services Manager Sally Madrid received $222,451.

Fialho said those figures don't just represent salary but also include benefits such as cashed out funds from unpaid vacation.

Of the 144 employees paid more than $100,000, about half were in the police department. Fialho said this is because police services is the largest department in the city.  The department has been working on cutting costs by reducing overtime. Last year, the department racked up about $400,000 in overtime pay.

"I think, we got really good people who work hard here and who believe in Pleasanton and the level of services we deliver, and they deserve to be compensated fairly," said Fialho.

In comparison to other cities of the same size, Pleasanton has fewer residents who make more than $100,000.

In Walnut Creek, a city of about 65,000, 40 percent of full-time city workers received six-figure incomes and there were also four who received more than $200,000.

San Ramon, which also has more than 60,000 people, gives 40 percent of its full-time city employees more than $100,000.

Councilmember Jerry Thorne said the city-to-city comparison is useful in making sure salaries are competitve with other municipalities. But to ensure salaries are truly not out of touch with the market, public employee compensation should be analyzed in comparison to the private sector.

"I think that would give us a much better handle in terms of the economy overall," he said.

"We have to stay on top of it," said Thorne. He added that Pleasanton salaries are probably not out of line, but without a proper  comparison with private sector compensations, "there's an element missing."