BILL ANALYSIS
SB 501
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 18, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
SB 501 (Correa) - As Amended: August 13, 2010
SENATE VOTE : Vote not relevant
SUBJECT : Local government: compensation disclosure.
SUMMARY : Requires each officer or designated employee of a
county, city, city and county, school district, special
district, or joint powers agency (JPA), to annually file a
compensation disclosure form that provides compensation
information for the proceeding year. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires each officer or designated employee to annually file
a compensation disclosure form that provides compensation
information for the proceeding year.
2)Specifies that the annual filing deadline for a compensation
disclosure form is the same as the filing deadline established
for annual statements of economic interest.
3)Defines "designated employee" as a designated employee of a
county, city, city and county, school district, special
district, or JPA who is required to file a statement of
economic interest pursuant to existing law.
4)Defines "city" as a general law or charter city.
5)Defines "officer" as an elected or appointed officer of a
county, city and county, school district, special district, or
JPA who is required to file a statement of economic interest
pursuant to existing law.
6)Requires that an officer or designated employee file his or
her compensation disclosure form with the same office that
receives that officer's or designated employee's statement of
economic interest and requires that office to maintain a copy
of the form and return the original to the filer.
7)Requires that, if a county, city, city and county, school
district, special district, or JPA maintains an Internet
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Website, then it shall post the information contained on the
filed compensation disclosure form on that Internet Website.
8)Requires the Secretary of State to develop the compensation
disclosure form.
9)Requires the compensation disclosure form to, at a minimum,
provide for disclosure of each of the following by an officer
or designated employee:
a) Salaries and stipends paid;
b) Total reimbursements received for expenses annually;
c) The employer's cost of providing benefits; and,
d) Any other monetary or non-monetary perquisites
provided.
10)Specifies that items disclosed on the compensation disclosure
form shall also include any items received by an officer or
designated employee as a result of membership with, or
employment by, any local agency, municipal corporation, public
benefit corporation, or community redevelopment agency, if the
membership of the officer's or designated employee's governing
body is sufficient in number to constitute a quorum or a
majority of the governing body membership of those entities.
11)Specifies that the compensation disclosure form is a public
record and shall be provided to a person upon request as soon
as practicable, but not later than the second business day
following the day on which the request was received.
12)Authorizes the district attorney or any interested person to
commence an action by mandamus or injunction to compel an
officer, designated employee, county, city, city and county,
school district, special district or JPA to comply with the
provisions of this measure.
13)Specifies that nothing in this measure shall be construed to
prevent an officer, designated employee, county, city, city
and county, school district, special district or JPA from
curing or correcting an action challenging a compensation
disclosure.
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14)States that prior to any action being commenced, the district
attorney or interested person shall make a demand, in writing,
of the officer, designated employee, county, city, city and
county, school district, special district or JPA to cure or
correct the action alleged to have been taken in violation of
the provisions of this measure.
15)Provides that within 30 days of receipt of the demand the
officer, designated employee, county, city, city and county,
school district, special district or JPA shall cure or correct
the alleged violation and inform the demanding party in
writing of that decision, or inform the demanding party in
writing of its decision to not cure or correct the alleged
violations.
16)States that within 15 days of receipt of the written notice
of the decision to cure or correct an alleged violation, or
not to cure or correct, or within 15 days of the expiration of
the 30 day period to cure or correct, whichever is earlier,
the demanding party shall be required to commence the action
or thereafter be barred from commencing the action.
17)States that if the officer, designated employee, county,
city, city and county, school district, special district or
JPA takes no action within the 30 day period, the inaction
shall be deemed a decision not to cure or correct the alleged
violation, and the 15 day period to commence the action shall
commence to run the day after the 30 day period to cure or
correct expires.
18)Provides that during any action seeking a judicial
determination regarding an alleged violation, if the court
determines, pursuant to a showing that an alleged violation
has been cured or corrected by a subsequent action, the action
filed shall be dismissed with prejudice.
19)Makes Legislative findings and declarations that the
disclosure of compensation paid to officers and designated
employees furthers the intent and purpose of the California
Constitution which declares that the people have the right of
access to information concerning the conduct of the people's
business.
20)Makes Legislative findings and declarations that the fiscal
integrity and stability of local government agencies in this
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state, including charter cities, has a direct impact on the
long-term well-being of all the residents of this state and
therefore declares that the disclosure of compensation to
officers and designated employees is an issue of statewide
concern and not a municipal affair and therefore shall apply
to charter cities.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits a public official at any level of state or local
government from making, participating in making or in any way
attempting to use his official position to influence a
governmental decision in which he knows or has reason to know
he has a financial interest.
2)Requires the following persons to file a statement of economic
interest disclosing his investments, his interests in real
property and his income during the period since their previous
economic statement was filed: state officers, judges and
commissioners of courts
of the judicial branch of government, members of the Public
Utilities Commission, members of the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission, members of the Fair
Political Practices Commission, members of the California
Coastal Commission, members of planning commissions, members
of the board of supervisors, district attorneys, county
counsels, county treasurers, and chief administrative officers
of counties, mayors, city managers, city attorneys, city
treasurers, chief administrative officers and members of city
councils of cities, and other public officials who manage
public investments, and to candidates for any of these offices
at any election.
3)Requires a statement of economic interest be filed as follows:
a) Persons holding the office of chief administrative
officer and candidates for and persons holding the office
of district attorney, county counsel, county treasurer, and
member of the board of supervisors - one original with the
county clerk, who shall make and retain a copy and forward
the original to the commission, which shall be the filing
officer; and,
b) Persons holding the office of city manager or, if there
is no city manager, the chief administrative officer, and
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candidates for and persons holding the office of city
council member, city treasurer, city attorney, and mayor -
one original with the city clerk, who shall make and retain
a copy and forward the original to the commission, which
shall be the filing officer.
4)Provides that in enacting the Public Records Act, the
Legislature, mindful of the right of individuals to privacy,
finds and declares that access to information concerning the
conduct of the people's business is a fundamental and
necessary right of every person in this state.
5)Provides that every employment contract between a state or
local agency and any public official or public employee is a
public record.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)On July 15, 2010, the Los Angeles Times (Times) broke the
story that the City Manager in the City of Bell was being paid
nearly $800,000 annually for his services. This was just two
weeks after the Times reported that the Los Angeles County
District Attorney's Office was investigating why Council
Members in the City of Bell were making nearly $100,000 per
year for a part-time office.
These stories and many more in this series have caused a
ripple effect across California of local governments coming
under scrutiny for what they are paying officers and
high-level employees. Although information on compensation is
available through a public records request of the local
agency, many times this information is not easily accessible
for the public to find. In the case of Bell, it took the
District Attorney's office and a nationally known newspaper to
make specified request in order to obtain all the necessary
documentation to determine that in fact the City of Bell was
paying excessive salaries to both elected officials and
several employees.
In the wake of the situation in the City of Bell, some cities
across the state have taken the opportunity to publicly
disclose salary information to their constituencies via
legislative body meetings, newspaper articles, and in some
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cases posting the information on their website. In the City
of Los Angeles, the City Controller has now posted the annual
salaries of every Los Angeles City employee online sorted by
position. This form of additional transparency in government
is a welcome relief for many Californians. Although some
local agencies have chosen to provide this information in a
more accessible format, some are still trying to determine
what their own agencies will do in regards to this issue. SB
501 provides a comprehensive statewide approach for how local
agencies (counties, cities, school districts, special
districts, and JPAs) should make compensation information
easily available for constituents and interested parties to
review.
2)Existing law requires members of planning commissions, members
of the board of supervisors, district attorneys, county
counsels, county treasurers, and chief administrative officers
of counties, mayors, city managers, city attorneys, city
treasurers, chief administrative officers and members of city
councils of cities, and other public officials who manage
public investments to annually file a statement of economic
interest. SB 501 requires that these same individuals file an
annual compensation disclosure form, developed by the
Secretary of State. The compensation disclosure form would
require these designated individuals to report on: a) the
amount of salaries and stipends paid; b) total reimbursements
received for expenses annually; c) employer's cost of
providing benefits; and, d) any other monetary or non-monetary
perquisites provided. Once the form is filed with the local
agency, SB 501 requires that if the local agency maintains a
website then the information contained on the filed
compensation form shall be posted on the agency's website.
3)SB 501 is not the Legislature's first attempt at providing
more sunshine and transparency to local agencies. Local
agencies are already required to hold most of their meetings
in public under the Ralph M. Brown Act. Under the Public
Records Act, all but a few of the documents generated by the
agency are available for public inspection. Moreover, after a
flurry of questions on how local officials were using public
resources and on the ability of local officials to follow the
ethical guidelines set forth in statute, the Legislature
stepped in and developed legislation clarifying the rules
pertaining to compensation to members of a local government
legislative body for attendance at authorized meetings and
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conferences; required the establishment of guidelines for
reimbursement of members of a local government legislative
body for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the
performance of official duties; and, established provisions
for ethics training for local government officials and
designated employees [AB 1234 (Salinas), Chapter 700, Statutes
of 2005].
4)Support Arguments : SB 501 provides a streamlined approach for
how compensation information on designated employees is filed
and made available to the public. This bill provides the
public with a document that can be easily obtained from a
local agency, thus providing the public with the opportunity
to give greater scrutiny on the compensation of designated
officers and employees. Supporters believe that with greater
accessibility of information egregious acts like those
discovered in the City of Bell will be less likely to occur.
Opposition Arguments : Opposition could argue that current law
requirements are working as seen in the case of Bell, where
the District Attorney and the newspaper were able to obtain
all the necessary information through public records act
requests. SB 501 is yet another requirement on local agencies
at a time when funding is low. Moreover, opposition could
argue that this requirement should be on all government
officers and employees whether they are state or local.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958