600,000 local government salaries posted online
State Controller John Chiang today made good on a promise to post an online database of salary and benefits for hundreds of thousands of local government employees around the state.
So far, the database includes salary and benefit information for nearly 600,000 employees in more than 400 cities and about 40 counties statewide. The famous six-figure Bell salaries are included, although data from the city of Vernon, whose employees' big paydays are also under investigation, has not yet been collected.
Dozens of cities and counties have not yet filed reports and could face penalties for not doing so.
"The absence of transparency and accountability invites corruption, self-dealing and the abuse of public funds,"
