12 Lake Forest Employees on $100K+ List

Lake Forest pays its City Council members less than most cities in Orange County do, but its city manager gets a generous compensation package that beats out those of all but two other cities in the county.

That's according to a report released Thursday by an Orange County Grand Jury, which used information from 2009.

In 2009, 12 Lake Forest city employees took home base salaries of more than $100,000, the report concluded.

County behemoth Anaheim topped the list, with 143 employees pocketing salaries greater than $100,000 in 2009, while Villa Park, with only 6,000-odd residents, reported only one employee who made more than $100,000.

Only Laguna Hills and Buena Park paid their city managers more in 2009 than Lake Forest did, the report shows.

Compensation for Lake Forest's city manager includes a base salary of $222,611, and $120,763—more than half again the base pay—in benefits.

"What that report is showing is a snapshot in time, and it's based on the components of compensation that are reported," Lake Forest city spokeswoman Debra Rose said. "In any given year, that rank order may change."

Notwithstanding the city manager's compensation, overall, Lake Forest landed in the bottom five of all Orange County cities for its number of employees with a base salary of more than $100,000, adjusted by population.

The report, the grand jury wrote, was intended to suss out any Bell-style city government scandals. That's not what it found, the report concludes. 

"While there is no finding of any individual abusive compensation level in this report, the analysis did reveal a substantial number of positions in municipal organizations with base salaries in excess of $100,000," the grand jury says.

The report also looked at how much employees in specific municipal management positions took home in 2009.

In Lake Forest, the city engineer was compensated with a base salary of $110,369 and benefits worth $47,052; the finance director got $142,992 and $50,700 in benefits; and the public works director pulled in a $150,159 base salary plus benefits of $56,228.

Other positions noted were Lake Forest's parks and recreation director, who earned $130,154 as a base salary and $53,804 in benefits; community development manager, who got $150,159 as a base and $70,658 in benefits;  and the city's human resource director, who received a base salary of $117,094 and $47,706 in benefits.

Benefits the grand jury asked for to include in the report were any fees, deferred compensation, bonus pay, insurance premiums, auto allowance, pension contributions and pay in lieu of time off.

The city's website, based on its appearance in February, was knocked for its content and clarity, getting Ds in both categories.

The site did slightly better when graded on accessibility, earning a C.

Lake Forest's website was in good company, however, considering that no cities in the county were considered to be A quality when it came to the content and clarity of their government sites.

The report also shows that Lake Forest pays it City Council members less than 24 Orange County cities, with a base of $9,463 and $1,742 in benefits.

However, city spokeswoman Debra Rose said that total is actually what the highest paid member is currently making.

The others earn less than that, she said.

"A couple are in Social Security, a couple are in PARS and one is in PERS ... because of that, it varies," Rose said.

The jury included seven principal findings based on the information collected:

• Based on the data submitted, no position was found where the compensation or employment contract was considered to be abusive. 
• There is no discernible correlation between compensation levels in charter versus general-law cities. (In charter cities, city councils determine pay for elected officals; general-law cities follow state rules on their compensation.)
• Compensation of individual high-level positions bears no significant relationship to city population. 
• Public disclosure of municipal compensation levels is widely inconsistent, ranging from good to nonexistent.
• With the exceptions of Laguna Beach and Newport Beach, the number of high-level positions in each city is generally commensurate with its population. 
• The compensation of the city manager and assistant city manager/finance director in the city of Laguna Hills exceeds levels in other comparably sized cities both inside and outside of Orange County. 
• There is currently no disclosure of written employment contracts on the majority of cities’ websites.

The grand jury concluded the report by recommending that all Orange County municipal governments make a greater effort to have compensation information—including individual employment contracts—accessible online.