Transparent California

05/04/2026

A recent interview of our Director of Research done by Philip Stemler, a great parent activist in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District - NMUSD school district.

Can you imagine the revolution we'd see in quality of K12 education if we put our superintendents on a bonus plan that gave them a significant bump if they actually improved education?

But that's not what our education system is designed to do, right? It's all about making sure the adults are taken care of, not the kids...

Transparent California's Director of Research, Todd Maddison, on shining a light on school spending.

04/25/2026

TransCal in the News!

"Patrick Jones, a former supervisor and mayor of Redding, said he discovered the issue while reviewing public salary data on Transparent California, a database that tracks government pay. Jones said Sheriff Michael Johnson's total pay was listed at about $445,000, with no benefits shown in that breakdown."

Thanks to Emilio Del Carpio and Action News Now for using our data!

It's a little hard to imagine the elected officials in any agency in the state would not know that their employees are making almost a half million dollars, especially given the most important task of any city council, school board, or board of Supervisors has is making sure their organization is financially responsible,, but at Transparent California we know how common that is.

Can you imagine the impact if every single agency in the state had someone stand up at their next meeting and simply spend three minutes reading names and pay - from highest downward - from our website? NO one could say "we didn't know" at that point.

And they won't like it, because that would be "holding them accountable." Our own Director of Research once did annual presentations to his local school board - putting images of the site into Power Point presentations and forcing the board to sit through three minutes of proof of their lack of fiscal responsibility.

The result was not, of course, more attention to where our money was going. The result was the Board making a rule change to ban the public from making screen presentations at board meetings...

If you’d like to see more data like this, you can help by sponsoring data collection for your favorite public agency at https://transparentcalifornia.com/sponsor/. That not only provides funding but prioritizes the collection of the agency’s data in our systems.

https://www.actionnewsnow.com/news/former-shasta-county-supervisor-questions-sheriffs-445k-pay-structure/article_d67b52a2-50d1-4bc3-b711-cd12a3155d58.html

A former Shasta County supervisor is raising questions about Sheriff Michael Johnson's pay structure after spotting what he believes may be an issue in public salary data. Johnson says his

04/14/2026

Imagine that. The City of San Diego's money shortfall is NOT driven by a lack of tax revenue, but massively wasteful overspending.

Who could possibly have guessed that?

"The association’s analysis found that the city has been overprojecting its revenue since 2020, and they have a $1 billion backlog of deferred maintenance and $7.8 billion in projected infrastructure spending.

“That money just doesn’t exist, or not all of it anyway,” Kersey said.

He added that city staffing has grown four times faster than the city’s population, with a focus on middle management positions."

Thanks to Mark Kersey and the San Diego County Taxpayers Association for digging into this and proving something that I think should be pretty much obvious to everyone.

And it is, to people who know the data on Transparent California. Which is probably the exact same thing for your own city, county, school district, or public agency. Most of which prioritize "high paying jobs for themselves and their friends" over providing services to residents.

We should be DEMANDING our government make cuts, not complaining when that happens.

The City of San Diego is facing a $120 million budget shortfall, leading to potential layoffs, cuts to programs, and fee increases, according to a new non-partisan report from the San Diego County Tax...

04/07/2026

Kudos to the Voice of San Diego for pressing this issue on behalf of us all, and to lawyer Felix Tinkov for helping us all fight for what is right.

"Voice’s lawsuit filed in Superior Court on Friday marks the latest legal dispute between the county and Voice of San Diego over public records. It comes as County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer gears up to pitch the need for a ballot measure to improve transparency and she and her colleagues often cite the public’s support for a more open county government. But county leaders are often not choosing transparency on public records. "

Voice of San Diego last week sued the county to try to force the release of complaints against an ex-county contractor, marking the latest legal wrangling with the county over public records.

04/01/2026

TransCal in the News! Even in Charlotte, North Carolina!

"Further west, many employees of California’s Santa Clara County, home to San Jose, were making more than those working similar jobs in Mecklenburg County. Santa Clara’s top leadership, a county chief operating officer and county executive, both make more than Bryant, according to 2024 data from the nonprofit Transparent California. Those San Jose-area leaders made $459,573.09 and $492,047.05, respectively, that year."

We're glad to see our data being used not just locally or regionally, but nationally! Thanks to Mary Ramsey and The Charlotte Observer
for taking advantage of our work!

The Observer compared Mecklenburg County government salaries to the most recent data available for comparable jobs in peer counties.

03/18/2026

TransCal in the News!

"What does Natomas Unified’s top administrator make? Robyn Castillo received a salary of $314,200 in 2024 with a total compensation package worth $416,000, according to Transparent California."

Thanks to Jennah Pendleton of the The Sacramento Bee for using our data!

Unfortunately earlier in the article they say "What do Natomas teachers make now? Natomas teacher salaries start at $56,000 and cap at $121,000. The median teacher salary in the district is $91,000, according to 2024-25 data."

Which is wrong. In 2024 the median pay of a full-time certificated employee in Natomas Unified was actually $97,135, at least if you believe the data provided to us is accurate. We don't have 2025 yet but it's unlikely that number would be lower a year later.

We've notified the Bee on that and submitted a letter to the editor clarifying, however have gotten no response.

See answers to some of the most common questions about the Natomas teachers strike affecting 17,000 students in the Sacramento area.

03/18/2026

TransCal in the News!

"Public compensation records list an Omar M. Rodriguez as a CHP cadet in 2021 and as a CHP officer in the years following. According to Transparent California, Rodriguez received total pay and benefits exceeding $253,000 in 2024."

Thanks to Lisa Music and the Redheaded Blackbelt for using our data!

An enforcement operation Friday on a quiet Fortuna street drew the attention of neighbors. CHP confirmed one of its own investigative units was conducting an “evolving investigation” at a residence…

03/18/2026

TransCal In the News!

"According to Transparent California, average public employee compensation now is six figures per year.

When unions secure higher salaries and richer benefits, those costs do not disappear. They show up as higher taxes, expanding government budgets, and massive pension obligations that taxpayers will be forced to cover."

Thanks to Jon Fleischman and the California Post for making use of our data!

One of the most powerful unions in California politics just made its move in the governor’s race, and it tells you a lot about how the state’s political machine works. The Service Employees Interna…

03/18/2026

TransCal in the News!

"The following financial information was sourced from Transparent California"

Thanks to Drew Askland of the Record Searchlight | Redding.com for making use of our data!

03/09/2026

Thanks to the people of Oakland for using our data, and paying attention to the facts.

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