Calif. Supreme Court Rules for Transparency
By Nicole Belle Monday Aug 27, 2007 6:20pmIn a political and judicial climate where secretiveness and obfuscation seem to be the order of the day, it's nice to see a score for sunshine and openness.
The salaries of government employees in California, including police officers, are a public record and must be available upon request to "ensure transparency," the state Supreme Court ruled in a decision released Monday.
"Openness in government is essential to the functioning of a democracy," Chief Justice Ronald George wrote in a 30-page opinion, ending a lawsuit the Contra Costa Times filed more than three years ago against the city of Oakland.
Justices found that government employees should not have an expectation of privacy about their gross salaries even if disclosure of the information "may cause discomfort or embarrassment."
The justices wrote that police salaries must also be made public except in narrow circumstances "where an officer's anonymity is essential to his or her safety," the decision states. The justices affirmed that police cannot use broad claims of officer safety to make blanket denials of salary information.
The ruling overturns a 2003 appellate court decision involving five cities in San Mateo County where employee unions blocked the release of salaries to the Palo Alto Daily News.
"Monday's court ruling put Priceless in its rightful place. It's a great win for the First Amendment," Keane said.
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baby jesus is first
I'm not sure why I should care about this considering everything else that's going on.
"The salaries of government employees in California, including police officers, are a public record and must be available upon request to “ensure transparency,” the state Supreme Court ruled in a decision released Monday."
"In a political and judicial climate where secretiveness and obfuscation seem to be the order of the day, it’s nice to see a score for sunshine and openness."
Yes Yes I'm sure teachers are just going to love having students know how much they make.
the law might be going a bit too far. I think all 'ELECTED' public employees should have SOME information available, but not all. this has way too much potential for abuse.
I sure wish there was some way the same transparency could be accomplished
as to what has been going on in D.C. since at least Nov. 02(when Cheney met
behind closed doors, in a secret meeting of the Energy Task Force, but WHO
attended is still unknown)...and of course many, many, many other instances
when this W/H has used "national security" as basis for not disclosing to the public
who attended and what was discussed.
Nicole: Just noticed that you are back. Hope you had a great vacation...in a
foreign land(?) or wherever.
Anyone who disagrees with this after complaining about Bush and Cheney's secrecy needs to have their head examined. There should be no expectation of privacy for anyone paid with public tax dollars. I say this as a person who has two parents who are public school teachers. They serve in the public sector and are therefore accountable to the public, and that's all there is to it.
Also who cares if the kids know how much teachers make? Do you honestly think they are going to look it up? And even if they do, THEY ARE CHILDREN. They have NO power to do anything with that information.
"Openness in government is essential to the functioning of a democracy"
Someone should put him on the Supreme Court
Snowball @ 2:
Seems pretty simple to me. If you don't have accurate information about how your government works, or not as this case seems to indicate, then....
How can you make good decisions as a citizen?
BaScOmBe @ 4:
No way man...public servant=public everything...
if you get a govt check....we the people...will know how much it is!
There is no such thing as financial privacy anyway....even in the private sector!!!
BaScOmBe @ 4:
I understand what you mean.
It's no ones business what individual teachers, cops and firefighters make.
What would the police officer say as he was demanding to search your vehicle?
......if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about.
or.....its for everyone's safety.
CD @ 11:
The term "elected" is the key.....teachers/cops/firefighters/public employees are NOT
elected and it does seem a bit unrealistic/unacceptable that these types of government
employees should have their payroll records subject to disclosure. What next, all city
and country and state employees??? Maybe I'm missing something; but ruling seems a
bit out of kilter and unnecessary.
milquetoast @ 9:
yes way, man! there should be some conditions on the availability of that kind of info. the average gov worker is not involved in anything. but if a clerk in the assessor's office is driving a Ferrari, then the info should be available via warrant.
baby jesus welcomes disclosure of public servants income.
baby jesus would however like a summary skill set and actual work output to accompany
the income.
baby jesus feels the silly humans would be amazed at how much money goes to the administration of public service as compared to actual public service performed by the worker bees.
baby jesus has a place reserved for the worker bees who don't get paid enough in heaven and another place altogether for the administrators and politicians
Doggiebobo @ 13:
I can just imagine some bastard printing out a list of home much every teacher in an area makes and passing it around to all of his friends for laughs.
I'm sure the public in California will be outraged to find out that their teachers, police and firemen make above the minimum wage. I mean, the very gall of these public servants to think that they should be payed a living wage a not be used as a political football for right wing anti-tax zealots. The very nerve!
BaScOmBe @ 14:
I find myself in agreement with most of the comments here. Teachers, firefighters, clerks, and policeman are not elected officials, and though they are paid in public funds, I would prefer to see the details of the funding rather than the individual salaries of day-to-day workers. Sunshine can be blinding too.
Proud to be from Cali, once again. Public servants are public employees. They have no reasonable expectation of privacy as to their gross compensation. After all this, was a request by newspapers. Perhaps one can argue that random citizens should not be able to waltz in and get any records they want, but the press (remember, this stems from a suit involving the press) is a crucial vanguard of public interest, and I agree they should have access.
baylaw73 @ 20:
I emphasized the "They" above...and probably do not disagree w/the ruling on this particular
case(tho admittedly I do not have the specific details), but I guess my question to you is,
"Should this information be available and accessible to ALL public citizens if he/she makes
a request for such?" This is what seems somewhat abusive to me and can be used in
an over zealous manner by some.
One has to wonder about why a Corporate Media flack like Keane is focusing his energies on getting information on public employees salaries. It can't be that he intends to use it in the public interest. and it's not like there aren't bigger fish to catch. More likely he wants it to give ammunition to the Republican party in California as they try to divide up that states electoral college votes and give the Republicans the advantage in '08. I expect we'll see a media manufactured firestorm over teacher's salaries coming out of California soon.
Illinois Teacher and Administrator Salaries
Man in the Middle @ 23:
Just a sample. How dare they soak the public till with their unending greed?
$11,157
LEE/OGLE ROE $13,093
BOONE/WINNEBAGO ROE $13,970
DALZELL SD 98 $17,600
FARRINGTON CCSD 99 $18,850
TWIN RIVERS CAREER & TECH ED SYS $19,535
GRUNDY/KENDALL ROE $20,153
TAZEWELL ROE $20,230
LICK CREEK CCSD 16 $20,870
CALHOUN/GREENE/JERSY/MACOUPIN ROE $20,887
GEFF CCSD 14 $21,804
ST CLAIR ROE $22,536
HOYLETON CONS SD 29 $22,568
EASTERN IL EFE SYSTEM $23,348
FULTON/SCHUYLER ROE $25,060
LINCOLNLAND TECHNICAL ED CTR $25,951
SANGAMON ROE $26,749
ODIN CHSD 700 $27,374
DEER PARK CCSD 82 $27,377
ESWOOD CCSD 269 $27,869
MT VERNON AREA VOC CENTER $27,944
HENDERSON/MERCER/WARREN ROE $27,970
WALTHAM CCSD 185 $28,034
UNION SD 81 $28,060
KINGS CONS SD 144 $28,444
NORTH WAMAC SD 186 $28,460
OAKDALE CCSD 1 $28,794
JASPER CCSD 17 $29,156
STEWARD ESD 220 $29,345
MARTINSVILLE CUSD 3C $29,400
ODIN SD 122 $29,439
CYPRESS SD 64 $29,547
EDWD/GLTN/HDIN/POP/SLNE/WBH/WN/WH $29,646
MCCLELLAN CCSD 12 $29,879
Where I live, Vermont, the salaries of all local and county employees are a matter of public information -- they're printed in annual town reports, school district reports, etc. This goes for everyone from part time school board members and town selectboard members to teachers, cops, firemen, even the town manager. This policy may mean loss of privacy for the individuals concerned, but they know it's a small sacrifice to make in the interest of transparency and accountability when it comes to ensuring there's no waste, fraud or abuse with taxpayer funds.
#24
Why did you post the very bottom of the list, without providing a link or any other explanation?
Watch the US Extreme Court strike this ruling down on appeal.
Calif. Supreme Court Rules for Transparency
Forsooth verily, all women should be required to wear transparent blouses.
Until they're thirty.
Paul @ 27:
They had better strike it down it's not the business of people to know how much treachers make!
Go Dave!
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