Claremont salaries compared to Bell

The story of the summer has been the outrageous salaries being pulled in by city staff and council members in the city of Bell near downtown Los Angeles.

Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo was earning nearly $800,000 per year, their police chief Randy Adams earned $457,000 a year and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia was earning $376,288 annually. All resigned after their salaries were exposed by the Los Angeles Times.

In addition, 4 out of 5 Bell city council members were raking in about $100,000 per year.

In reaction, Claremont City Manager Jeff Parker added an item on his most recent weekly report about salaries for top city staff and council members in Claremont. Here's what he wrote:

As the media reports on the City of Bell's salaries for council and administrative staff, residents across the country are discussing the compensation of their own City officials. In accordance with the City of Claremont's open communication philosophy, the City of Claremont makes this information readily available to the public.

Each member of the City Council receives $400 per month compensation and an additional $30 per Redevelopment Agency meeting. The City Council does not receive retirement benefits and during the 2010-12 budget process, medical benefits were eliminated from council's budget. City commissioners are appointed by the City Council and receive no compensation.

As detailed in the budget, the City Manager's annual salary is $211,000 and the Assistant City Manager's annual salary is $165,000. The Police Chief's annual salary is $174,000. These salaries are based on surveys of comparable cities with similar services and populations to Claremont's 37,000 residents. Cities surveyed include Upland, Brea, La Verne, Glendora, Arcadia, Azusa, Covina, Rialto, Montclair, Monrovia, and Chino.

A complete list of salary ranges for each City position is available upon request through the City Clerk's office. For additional information, please call the City Manager's Office at 909-399-5441.