California’s highest-paid employees are a little-known cadre of pension managers, prison workers and patrolmen who pull in as much as $2 million in total compensation on the taxpayer dime, records reveal.
The top-earning state worker last year was Stephen Gilmore, chief investment officer at the California Public Employees Retirement System, who netted $2.36 million in total compensation, including a $720,608 salary, nearly $100,000 in benefits and a whopping $1.5 million in “other pay.”
The publicly available pay data was compiled by the San Francisco Chronicle.
The approximately 250 state workers who made more than $600,000 were largely concentrated in two of California’s massive pension systems — the Public Employees Retirement System and the Teachers’ Retirement System — along with the California Highway Patrol and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Although Gilmore was the only state worker earning over $2 million in total comp, several other pension bosses netted well over $1 million last year thanks to “other pay,” which can include performance-based bonuses.
Managing director Arnold Phillips took home $1.73 million, including $1 million in “other pay,” while deputy investment chief Daniel Bienvenue and executive officer Marcie Frost each earned $1.6 million.
CalPERS is the largest public employees’ retirement system in the United States, with over $600 billion in assets.
California prison shrinks are also bringing home some serious dough.
Samita Gandhi, a staff psychiatrist at Corrections and Rehabilitation, was that department’s highest-paid worker with $873,872 in total comp. Chief psychiatrist Olivia Del Pilar and staff shrink Damon Walcott weren’t far behind it $841,878 and $822,971, respectively.
Tai Vong, chief of the California Highway Patrol who retired one year ago, made an eye-popping $914,554 in total comp in his final year — including a “lump sum” payment of $398,000. His fellow chiefs James Mann and Donald Goodbrand earned $838,272 and $824,122 and one sergeant, Leonard Tomboc, earned $812,678.
Another outlier was Vernon Steiner, who runs the State Compensation Insurance Fund. His taxpayer-backed earnings last year were $1.2 million, including a $702,791 annual base salary.
Ian Choudri, who’s in charge of California’s embattled High Speed Rail project, also earned a pretty penny at $638,943 in compensation last year.
Departments with the worst-compensated workers include Motor Vehicles and Veterans Affairs — both of which have median wages under $71,000, according to the Chronicle’s analysis.
