Simi School Board members get paid $400 a month at most and sometimes less if they have fewer meetings from what I have heard. Not sure about the Simi City Council but I think it is higher.

SVCC receives $1200 a month plus full health benefits. I am sure Councilwoman Williamson will clarify for us. If I am not mistaken SVCC also receives a spending allowance. Do SVCC also receive compensation for clubs they belong to? what about free tickets to local events that everyone else pays for ie. fundraisers.

The elected officials that really make out are those that are self-employed with extended family members. Add $3000-5000 a month for health/dental/optical insurance for a family of four that makes a self employed SVCC making more than $50,000-74,400 a year not bad! That explains why small business owners want to hold public office.

Does it still hold true that once an elected holds office for ten years that they have health insurance for LIFE! WOW if that's true than I understand the motivation to hold office.

It does not seem fair to me that an elected should have lifetime health insurance for only ten years of service. My understsanding is that an elected body can overturn that perk, let's find out what out local coouncils and boards are actually doing.

Thanks for bringing up this subject Brian.

Other City Councils have some pretty outrageous salaries and benefits, since there's always a strong temptation to vote yourself more money. But here in Simi Valley the pay and benefits are relatively modest, comparable to a part-time job. (Or at least they were when Sandi was on the City Council nine years ago. I haven't kept close track of raises since then.)

And Love Child is way overestimating the value of medical insurance benefits. There are no lifetime benefits (or at least there weren't, but I doubt that has changed). And I know that the cost of the COBRA insurance extension was about $650/month for an individual.

In addition to salaries, Simi Valley Council members receive a modest fixed amount for expenses. This covers the cost of things like official dinners and other events (which are generally NOT free). Anything above that comes out of Council members' own pockets.

If you're really curious, there's an easy way to find out what the pay and benefits are. Just call up the City Manager's office and ask. The information isn't secret.

This is directed to "Love Child's" questions: Daniel Wiener is correct..there are no life time health inusrance benefits...and when we attend functions like the Free Clinic, Police Foundation, Education Foundation, that comes out of our private pockets unless we are invited to share someones table. In my personal case, my employer First Californai Bank either purchases a table or several seats...if not it comes straight out of my pocket. My Rotary bill is paide for by my employer..There are times when I have gone into the "red" to participate in community activities...that's ok I am, like the rest of the City Council, a supporter of the non profits in our community.

Candidates and their supporters aren't investing $10K's for the money or the benefits for the school board races or the city council races. Some elected officials actually care about their constituency but the rest have been put in place to protect the status quo - which isn't working very well.

I agree but it is hard to judge without knowing how much it pays.

Barbra, I think Simi Valley should take the lead and post this information on the city's website. I know you folks end up going to many charity events and the hours add up quickly.

How does the city determine the stipend? How often do you vote on it?

I know this probably will be an unpopular position in the age of outrage, but I think the city council, school board, and park board are underpaid for what they provide. The community leadership in this town does a fantastic job of making events and always working on voter concerns. It's also been my experience that when I have an issue I always get a response.

Brian: Maybe instead of posting the stipend amount on the website we can post their amount and than divide by the number of hours leaders like Barbra put into the community. I think you'll find they are probably making 75 cents an hour.

Scott, I think you have a good idea and maybe add a third column for how much was spent on the most recent campaign and who were the big contributors.

Scott,

I can't divide for X because I don't know the total salary. Do you?

I didn't say local elected officials weren't working hard for the money, but I can't imagine going out to eat and not looking at the receipt just because the service was great.

For all I know the park board doesn't get paid almost at all and the school board gets paid very well. I don't have the facts and local government agencies haven't made it the easiest thing to discover.

Do you agree they should be published?

Brian

I think the city is between 900 and 1100 a month. I remembers reading that or hearing that somewhere. Park Board, I'd have to make a phone call and find out. School Board appears to be around 400 as someone above said.

I think if they were making a ton of money like city council people in LA, it'd be different, but it really doesn't seem to be a very large sum when put next to how much time and effort they put in the community.

Brian: Where on the House, Senate, and White House page can I find my elected official's salary?

Scott,

People are going to think I am paying you to throw me softballs. It is easy to look up how much members of congress get paid.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa031200a.htm

Do you think it should be easier to determine how much government employees get paid or should we call someone for any question instead of a quick web search?

Thanks for your guesses on what they get paid but I think disclosure could help show that they aren't in it for the compensation.

Brian,

That's pretty funny slight of hand. The site you sent me isn't a government run site. Give me a government run site that discloses this information?

I could be wrong, but I don't think this is being done at any level of government

SVCC members also have their own private offices at city hall. I have never heard of that before for part time office holders.

SVCC members also have their own private offices at city hall. I have never heard of that before for part time office holders.

Thank you to Councilmember Williamson and Mr. Weiner, for clearing up the numbers.

If a SVCC is self-employed and we take the cobra number for average family of four at $650 each that equals $2600 a month - I was not overstating by that much especially if a family member has a pre-existing illness.

I do appreciate the fact that our elected officials make many personal sacrificices including their privacy and ongoing time committments.

Scott Blough may be correct...possibly if some of these positions were better compensated we may be able to attract more candidates.

Contrary to what many people think most people who runn for office do at great personal expense and sacrifice...there are exceptions to the rule like the Strickland family.

I am not implying they are over or under paid. I don't actually know.

Scott, my point is that congressional salaries are easy to find. But if i want to see how salaries for council members compare aqcross ventura the "just make a call" system would put me in for a bunch of telephone tag. On top of that i would need to call every few months to see if it changes?

Will you join my call for greater disclosure from all government agencies in regards to salaries?

Brian

Aren't you really just shining a light on the fact that no blog or newspaper is publishing the information that is publicly available? You've published a lot of documents, so why not go down, make a call and publish it? It's not like it is locked in a vault or anything.

Scott,

I am interested in park boards, school boards, and city councils across Ventura County.

That is more than a few calls.

I would think it would be easy for the city council to publish it being that they even have their own newsletter about the city. I might of missed it but I would be very interested in a future issue of the city paid for newsletter going over a city budget for beginners or something along the lines.

Okay,

So try email. One email will most likely cover most jurisdictions. You could even type one email and reuse it each time based on what you are interested in finding out.

Sounds like an interesting research project. Let us know what you find.

Stop shilling for the establishment Scott.

How hard would it be to include in the city owned website? Are they running out of electrons?

Jake,

I think you miss the point. I didn't say they had anything to hide or their salaries are too high. I don't think Scott is defending the lack of disclosure he just wants me to make tons of phone calls.

Alright already you guys...I will give you the exact amount the SVCC gets paid on Tuesday... I am going to Orange County for a transportation Conference otherwise I would do it Monday....
ok?

Pleasant Valley School Board:
$280/month. If there are two meetings and you miss one you deduct $140 unless you ask for the issue to be brought to the board for re-numeration.

Benefits the same as a teacher. When I was on the board that was $465/month. To add my family I paid an additional $400/month.

County School Board dinners, State of the City or other informational lunches and dinners would be paid for if you informed the board you wanted to go and were too cheap to pay for it yourself.

California School Board Association annual conference- All expenses paid by the district. I would take the hotel room and registration and pay my own travel and meals. I did it that way because my wife would come with me, either San Diego or San Francisco, and it allowed me to avoid the specture of inpropriety. Also that way I could have food I wanted without feeling I was eating a days worth of ADA.

We had a board member that actually submitted an expense report for milage to and from the meeting. I called the supt and had the money returned. There are some that are in it for things not related to the post.

I agree with Brian that it is often difficult to get "public" information on the compensation of public employees. It is never as easy as going to a web site where salaries and benefits are simply listed for all to see. It would be a tremendous amount of work for any individual to attempt to get the compensation of all the various local school boards, city councils, commissions, etc.

However I would also point out that the same applies for public employees in general. Our local school district does not list detailed information on the paygrades and benefits of teachers on their website. The same applies to police departments as well. When teachers unions are in contract negotiations they often make the case that teachers are underpaid, but they only talk about starting salaries for first year teachers yet never mention top end salaries, benefits, or factor in the time off that teachers enjoy that is unique to their profession. Finding that information is also difficult and not voluntarily published.

I agree with Brian in principle, however if we expect cities to publish detailed information on salaries and benefits for city council members then we should demand the same for all public employees.

Gopher alert. Grab your poison and traps. Gopher out from under rock. This is an official gopher alert.

Hey Moondoggie, why don't you for once try and contribute something intelligent to the discussion. If you've got nothing meaningful or on topic to contribute then do everyone a favor and stay out of the thread.

Cathy Carlson from TO here: The Conejo Valley Unified School District pays their trustees $527 a month, gross. They are reimbursed for mileage to conventions, contrary to Camarillo policy. The CVUSD has a Conference and Convention budget of $627,000 annually (for teachers and staff). They are LOADED!! The annual general budget this year is $227 million. 80% goes for salaries and benefits.

Also, the trustees get great medical and dental for themselves and their immediate families. There are lifetime health benefits for long-time Conejo trustees. They have to request it, and yes, they do get it. They typically ask when they hit 10 years. But the current incumbents have waited longer to ask, since they keep getting re-elected and don't need to upset voters with this news. I predict that Dorothy and Dolores will be asking for their lifer benefits very soon, since they probably won't be able to win re-election next year when they both turn 75.

They can also write off lots of expenses on their taxes, such as phones, car depreciation, and a home office.

The problem is that there are no term limits here for school board. There are in San Luis Obispo. A couple of terms, and thank you for your public service.

If incumbents stay too long, they get too cozy with the people they are supposed to be watchdogs over. The older they get, the more they like (and need) their benefits and free travel. So, they typically rubber stamp whatever the staff brings to them. When a new person comes on board and questions why teachers/administrators are asking for this or that, then the veterans in their 70's accuse the new guy of being a trouble maker, saying that the guy is not a "team player".

Bring term limits to Ventura County school boards and city councils, and you will see better public servants.

This is nothing but sour grapes from Cathy Carlson. She ran for school board in Conejo and came in dead last. Her buddy Mike Dunn happily accepts his money every month and so would Carlson, except for the fact that Carlson would never be elected because we know her all too well here in Conejo. The person Carlson is backing for the Ventura School Board was interviewed by the Star editorial board and was found to be totally unqualified to sit on a school board and the Star even said so on Sunday when they announced it.

Sorry I missed ya, BK.

Gopher alert. Grab your poison and traps. Gopher out from under rock. This is an official gopher alert.

I agree with Cathy. Term limits are needed on city councils and school boards. Otherwise, you end up with guys like Jim Monahan - content to sit through most Ventura City Council meetings in a state of semi-slumber.

Tim? Did you campaign for an alternative or for votes against Monahan? You can call for a term limit on any candidate on any election day.

gs, my point is that once you get elected to local office it is very hard to unseat you unless you really screw up. Monahan has been on autopilot for many years now and he just keeps getting reelected, just because he never does anything scandalous or bad. That doesn't necessarily make him a good City Council member though. He is living proof that term limits are a good idea. The guy barely speaks up at City Council meetings. He lets everyone else carry the ball and just basks in the glow.

Term limits prevent people from voting for their choice and are un-democratic!

I hear ya, Tim! But the other side of that same coin is that term limits also force the very good ones out of office, often allowing a bad one to sneak in. How do you prevent those things from happening??

Well, I guess at some point you have to trust the voters to make the right decision. I think in local politics it's actually more difficult for a real bad apple to get elected simply because people in the community would know what he/she has done or not done over the years. If you have a bad reputation prior to running for office, those things tend to get around in a small community.

From what I hear, Brian, city of SB Council banks $30,000 per year. City of Ventura is $600 per month.

While it is no doubt different with non-partisan politics, generally when you have term-limits in California (because of gerrymandering), the outgoing incumbent picks his/her successor.

Examples:

Fran Pavley picked Julia Brownley
Sheila Kuehl is picking Fran Pavley

Did McClintock pick Tony Strickland?

Jim Monahan needs to go, sorry. He does absolutely nothing but complain about how there is no direct route from 126 West to 101 South...GET OVER IT JIM! And, while I say that it is no doubt different in non-partisan politics, Brian Brennan is ready to retire but looking for an "heir to the thrown."

I think Monahan needs to go too, Heather. I just hope he doesn't run for reelection. I also think if Brian Brennan decides not to run again in 2 years (which is widely rumored) there will be a couple of open slots that will throw that election wide open for some interesting challengers - hopefully, Republicans!

Ha ha, Mongo Flamo -- unlike other Dems, I could care less WHAT party affiliation runs for those seats as long as this city doesn't turn into a dump...things have changed a lot since I moved here six years ago and I'm not saying good change.

Brennan has told me he is not running again, but needs a "progressive successor" to run in his place.

Summers will run again, duh...he's only on his first term.

Andrews is SUPPOSEDLY ticked off at the council for not getting the Vice Mayorship when Weir did, so rumor has it he is not running.

And I think we ALL know what Monahan will do....does he have anything to do with his time??? Ugh, that guy.

I think that would be great if both Brennan & Andrews did not run again in 2009. That would give some others a chance at helping "move the City forward", if you catch my drift.

There are good people out there who will throw their hats in the ring in two years. They were smart enough to know that this was not their year to try. Ed and Neal will both run again.

There may be some candidates who ran this time who will refine their platforms and give it another shot too. I take it that Doug Halter won't try again, given what he said after the election, but you never know. Two years is a long way off. I don't think Lou Cunningham will be willing to spend another $16K of his own money to get 2,000 votes, but we'll see. Jerry Martin may be burning out. He's tried the last 2 consecutive elections, right? But, you know what they say, the 3rd time's the charm.

Mike Gibson will run again, for sure. He's already committed to doing it. I think the fact that he got almost 2,000 votes with absolutely zero name recognition going in is something in itself. Of course, the 2 gadflies will throw their hats is again - Carroll Dean and Brian Lee.

There are at least two people out there with huge name recognition and support who I believe will run. This was Doug's third time; Lou's second or third. I think he also ran for school board once.

It would be nice if CDW retired altogether. I'm sick of him. Between the school district and the city, I'd be interested to see an accounting of how many taxpayer dollars he has wasted pestering people with his rants.

Mr. Gibson needs to get his signs down. They are still everywhere. We took ours down Wednesday morning.