Councilman: 'I don't see any Bell-type salaries here'

STUDY: Survey of city pay for top managers puts Los Angele in line with other areas.

The salaries of general managers in the city of Los Angeles, whose annual pay ranges from $119,000 to $327,000, are justified and within range of similar positions in other California cities, officials said Wednesday.

After the city of Bell pay scandal, Los Angeles city officials had asked for a review of the salaries of the top managers. The highest paid GM in Los Angeles is Gina Marie Lindsey, the executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, who is paid $326,855.

Hers was the second-highest municipal salary in the survey, which included California's biggest cities plus Los Angeles County and Chicago. The highest paid was Los Angeles County Chief Executive Officer Bill Fujioka, with a salary of $338,458.

"We just wanted to be sure we weren't out of line," said Councilman Dennis Zine, who called for the review. "It doesn't appear as if we are paying more than what is justified for the job."

Zine had called for the report following the case of Bell city officials, where City Manager Robert Rizzo was receiving up to $1.5 million a year in compensation. He is fighting fraud charges.

The survey looked at 39 general manager positions in Los Angeles and 146 positions in other cities, including San Diego, San Francisco and Anaheim.

The lowest-paid position was the Bakersfield fire chief at $80,428 and the lowest paid in Los Angeles city was $118,932 for the executive officer of the Employee Relations Board, Robert Bergeson.

"I don't see any Bell-type salaries here," said Councilman Paul Koretz, who chairs the committee.

The report also shows that city department heads took pay cuts and furlough days comparable to what was imposed on the workers in their departments.

Directors of the 46 agencies, bureaus or department that had no pay cuts or furloughs did not take any cuts, officials said.

Zine said the importance to the public is that executive pay does not appear out of line.

The panel also decided it wants to take a deeper look at bonuses paid city workers for extras such as being bilingual or having special licenses to perform their jobs.

The bonuses are considered in all employee contracts that are approved by the City Council.

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