Nearly half of Fremont city workers make more than $100K
By Matthew Artz
MediaNews
Article Launched: 09/19/2007 09:23:18 AM PDT
FREMONT - Three hundred and eighty-four city of Fremont employees made more than $100,000 last year - nearly half of the city's full-time work force, according to city figures.
City Manager Fred Diaz was the highest earner, receiving $251,788 in total compensation. He was followed by City Attorney Harvey Levine, $243,185; Police Chief Craig Steckler, $226,638; and Fire Chief Bruce Martin, $200,181.
Nearly every full-time sworn member of the police and fire departments earned six figures last year. The two departments accounted for 288 out of the 384 employees making more than $100,000.
The Fremont Argus requested the salary figures for calendar year 2006 earlier this month after the California Supreme Court ruled that governments must reveal what they pay employees. Overtime was a major factor driving up salaries for public safety workers, figures showed. The fire department tallied more than $3.6 million in overtime, while the police department paid just over $2.6 million.
Top overtime recipients in the two departments were firefighter Jeff Place, who earned $77,838 and Sgt. Patrick Epps, who earned $61,381.
Fremont has raised salaries in recent years to keep pace with other cities and private employers in the region, Deputy City Manager Melissa Stevenson Dile said.
"We're competing with a Silicon Valley cost of living and a smaller work force," she said. A 2007 city-commissioned salary report, she added,
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found that when compared with similar cities, Fremont was "in the middle of the pack."
The two groups of employees found to be making less than their peers elsewhere, according to the report, were firefighters and police officers, Stevenson Dile said. Both groups of employees received 6 percent raises in July.
The base salary for a starting firefighter is now $72,061. For a police officer, it is $76,237. In the past five years, the top step of the salary range for both firefighters and police officers has increased by more than 26 percent.
For last fiscal year, the city's total budget was $205 million, of which nearly $114 million was spent on salaries. There are 861 full-time employees.
Fremont's fire department overtime last year was "pretty consistent" with past figures, Fire Chief Martin said. Like many other cities, Fremont has determined that it is cheaper to rely on overtime than hire additional firefighters, he said.
The department, which didn't exceed its budget last year, keeps 38 active firefighters, including two battalion chiefs, on duty at all times, the chief said. Last year it staffed between 130 and 135 sworn personnel.
Police Chief Steckler said his department also has stayed within its budget, even though injuries and retirements forced it to spend about $500,000 more on overtime last year than anticipated.
"There's no breathing room," he said. "If someone is sick or injured, no one is there to take that slot." Previous budget cuts, Steckler said, forced the department to reduce its staffing from 209 officers several years ago to 188 last year.
For most of 2006, he added, the department operated with about 165 officers. Overall, last year, 164 sworn officers made at least $100,000.
"I'm not surprised we have a number of officers making over $100,000 a year," Steckler said. "When you lay off a bunch of people and none of the work goes away, someone has to take on those responsibilities."
For sworn officers who made at least $70,000 in base salary last year, the average salary was $124,226. For firefighters, not including the chief and deputy chief, it was $136,333. Those police officers earned an average of $12,760 in overtime. For the firefighters, it was $29,659.
In both departments, overtime is voluntary, unless no one steps forward to take it. To limit overtime, the police department has lowered the minimum number of patrol officers permitted on shifts, Steckler said.
The fire department had instituted rolling brownouts of fire stations, but stopped that practice in February. Both police officers and firefighters can net overtime or additional income for signing up for specialized work or having special training.
Police officers get an additional 5 percent of their base pay for having a bachelor's degree, Steckler said. Epps, the department's top overtime recipient, earned much of his overtime and added pay working as the department's Taser instructor and firing range master, Steckler said.
Firefighters get an additional 10 percent of their base pay for being a licensed paramedic, and an additional 5 percent for being a licensed hazardous materials specialist, Martin said. Also, several firefighters participate in emergency operations across the country. In those instances, Fremont is reimbursed for the firefighters' time.
Place, the fire department's top overtime earner, is a dog handler and member of an urban search and rescue team, said Ron Chaney, a Fremont fire captain and spokesman for the firefighters union.
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