HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Resolution 14798 (Response to Grand Jury Report on Web Transparency)RESOLUTION NO. 14798
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL APPROVING AND
AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE CITY’S RESPONSE TO THE MARIN
COUNTY GRAND JURY REPORT ENTITLED "FOLLOW-UP REPORT ON WEB
TRANSPARENCY OF AGENCY COMPENSATION PRACTICES,” DATED APRIL 28, 2020
WHEREAS, pursuant to Penal Code section 933, a public agency which receives a Grand
Jury Report addressing aspects of the public agency’s operations must, within ninety (90) days,
provide a written response to the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court with a copy to the
Foreperson of the Grand Jury, responding to the Report’s findings and recommendations; and
WHEREAS, Penal Code section 933 specifically requires that the “governing body” of the
public agency provide said response and, in order to lawfully comply, the governing body must
consider and adopt the response at a noticed public meeting pursuant to the Brown Act; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of San Rafael has received and reviewed the Marin
County Grand Jury Report, dated April 28, 2020, entitled “Follow-up Report on Web Transparency
of Agency Compensation Practices,” and has agendized it at this meeting for a response.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of San Rafael
hereby:
1. Approves and authorizes the Mayor to execute the City’s response to the Marin
County Grand Jury’s April 28, 2020 report entitled “Follow-up Report on Web Transparency of
Agency Compensation Practices,” a copy of which response is attached hereto and incorporated
herein by reference.
2. Directs the City Clerk to forward the City’s response forthwith to the Presiding Judge
of the Marin County Superior Court and to the Foreperson of the Marin County Grand Jury.
I, Lindsay Lara, Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution
was duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the San Rafael City Council
held on the 18th day of May 2020, by the following vote to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
Councilmembers: Bushey, Colin, Gamblin, McCullough & Mayor Phillips
Councilmembers: None
Councilmembers: None
___________________________
LINDSAY LARA, City Clerk
FORM FOR RESPONDING TO GRAND JURY REPORT
Report Title:
Report Date:
Public Release Date:
Response by:
"Follow-up Report on Web Transparency of Agency Compensation
Practices"
April 28, 2020
April 28, 2020
Mayor Gary Phillips and San Rafael City Council
FINDINGS
■ I (we) agree with the findings numbered: F3 and F5
■ 1 (we) disagree wholly or partially with the findings numbered: n/a
RECOMMENDATIONS
■ Recommendations numbered R3, R4 and R6 have been implemented.
■ Recommendations numbered n/a have not yet been implemented but will be implemented in the
futures.
■ Recommendations numbered n/a require further analysis.
■ Recommendations numbered n/a will not be implemented because they are not warranted or
are not reasonable.
Date: Signe
Number of pages attached
2019–2020 MARIN COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY
Follow-Up Report on Web
Transparency of Agency
Compensation Practices
April 28, 2020
A Note about the Coronavirus Pandemic
The 2019–2020 Marin County Civil Grand Jury is issuing its
reports during the unprecedented conditions of the COVID-19
pandemic. We are well aware that Marin County is in crisis
and that critical public health concerns, operational difficulties,
and financial challenges throughout the county have a greater
claim to government attention right now than the important
issues raised by this Grand Jury.
We are confident that, in due course, Marin will come through
this crisis as strong as ever.
Marin County Civil Grand Jury
Follow-Up Report on Web Transparency
of Agency Compensation Practices
Summary
Many Marin public agencies fail to make the compensation for their elected officials and
employees fully transparent on their public websites, despite state legal requirements and past
Grand Jury recommendations that they do so. The 2019–2020 Grand Jury examined the current
status of 34 Marin public agency websites to determine if they are meeting transparency
standards with respect to compensation disclosures.
California law requires most public agencies to report the annual compensation of their “elected
officials, officers, and employees” to the state controller’s office, which posts this information on
its Government Compensation in California website at publicpay.ca.gov (Public Pay).1 Each
local agency with a website also is legally required to post “in a conspicuous location . . .
information on the annual compensation of its elected officials, officers and employees.”2
All of Marin’s cities, towns, and major agencies have websites, so each of them is required to
post annual compensation data, and the public should be able to easily find this information.
Over and above these basic legal requirements, the public has an interest in understanding
compensation policies with regard to elected officials, including information about wages, health
and retirement benefits, and reimbursement policies. There is a wide variance in compensation
policies and the total amounts and benefits paid to elected officials. The public should be able to
access this information easily and quickly rather than having to dig through meeting minutes or
policy manuals that may or may not be easy to find on a website.
The 34 agency websites audited included those of the County of Marin, Marin’s 11 cities and
towns, 10 sanitary districts, 9 fire districts, and 3 water districts. The Grand Jury wanted to know
if the legal disclosure requirements were met and if detailed information about compensation and
benefits for elected officials was readily available.
This investigation revealed that a great majority of audited agency websites failed to comply
fully with legal compensation disclosure requirements. Compensation information was often
difficult to find and outdated. Information on actual compensation paid to elected officials was
also missing, difficult to find, or insufficient. In many cases, it was difficult to find information
about compensation policies for elected officials. In contrast, the Marin Municipal Water
1 California Government Code § 53892, accessed March 30, 2020,
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV§ionNum=53892 .
2 California Government Code § 53908, accessed March 30, 2020,
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV§ionNum=53908.
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Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 2 of 18
District3 (MMWD) and the North Marin Water District4 each annually post a detailed report on
the compensation of their elected officials.
This Grand Jury report makes specific recommendations for every agency to follow to ensure
compliance with legal requirements and to go beyond compliance to achieve higher standards of
public transparency.
Background
The transparency of public agencies and their compensation policies has been an ongoing topic
of state and local concern. In recent years, the state legislature amended the California
Government Code to require the posting of annual compensation data on agency websites.5 Local
agencies are now required to report their compensation data to the state controller’s office, which
posts the data on the Public Pay site.6
Since 2014, the Marin County Civil Grand Jury has published four reports on web transparency:
■ A 2013–2014 Grand Jury report, What Are Special Districts and Why Do They
Matter?, recommended that the county post a complete list of all of Marin’s special
districts on its website to enable residents to understand the extent of local
government.7 The county did not fulfill this recommended action.
■ In March 2016, the 2015–2016 Grand Jury followed up with its Web Transparency
Report Card, reiterating, among other things, that the master list of special districts
should be completed.8 It also recommended that all agencies should update their
websites “to include the annual compensation of . . . elected officials, officers and
employees.”9 These recommended actions were not completed.
■ The 2016–2017 Grand Jury issued its Web Transparency Report Card Update, which
noted a marked improvement in the quality of agency websites. This report card also
noted additional room for improvement for many agencies.10
3 Marin Municipal Water District, Annual Report on Board Compensation, August 7, 2018,
http://marinwater.org/DocumentCenter/View/3602/Board-Compensation-Annual-Report?bidId=.
4 North Marin Water District, 2018 Compensation Report, accessed March 30, 2020,
https://www.nmwd.com/pdfs/NMWDCompensationReportCY2018.pdf.
5 California Government Code § 53908
6 Government Compensation in California, accessed March 30, 2020, https://publicpay.ca.gov.
7 Marin County Civil Grand Jury, What Are Special Districts and Why Do They Matter?, May 20, 2014,
https://www.marincounty.org/-/media/files/departments/gj/reports-responses/2013/spd_master_list_report.pdf.
8 Marin County Civil Grand Jury, 2015–2016 Web Transparency Report Card: Bringing Marin County's Local
Governments to Light, March 10, 2016, https://www.marincounty.org/-/media/files/departments/gj/reports-
responses/2015/responses/webtransparencyrptcard/2015_16-web-transparency-report-card.pdf.
9 Marin County Civil Grand Jury, 2015–2016 Web Transparency Report Card: Bringing Marin County's Local
Governments to Light, p. 10.
10 Marin County Civil Grand Jury, 2016–2017 Web Transparency Report Card Update, June 8, 2017,
https://www.marincounty.org/-/media/files/departments/gj/reports-responses/2017/web-transparency-update.pdf.
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■ In a report entitled Special Districts Transparency Update, the 2018–2019 Grand Jury
noted that the special districts list recommended by the 2013–2014 Grand Jury still
had not been created.11 The report reiterated this recommendation and suggested that
the special district list include “complete compensation components and amounts
(including salary, insurance, stipends, in kind goods, conference fees and other
benefits, and reimbursements).”12
The Grand Jury has focused on these issues for more than six years, without satisfactory
resolution. Perhaps with this follow-up report, agencies will come to understand the vital
importance of public transparency and will be more forthcoming with this information and
finally improve their websites. Public transparency regarding compensation of elected officials is
essential because the public needs accurate information about its government agencies.
Transparency helps to maintain trust in the government and gives information to the public that
helps guide decisions on matters of self-governance. It makes responsive democracy work.
Approach
The Grand Jury reviewed the work of prior juries as published in the four previous reports and
audited the websites of 34 of Marin’s public agencies, including the County of Marin, Marin’s
11 cities and towns, 10 sanitary districts, 9 fire districts, and 3 water districts (this report uses the
term “agency” to refer to these diverse jurisdictions). Jurors reviewed these websites to
determine if they met the legal requirements by providing easy access to accurate, current
compensation data for public employees. Jurors also checked the board or council pages of these
websites to determine if they included detail about annual compensation for elected officials.
The audit was conducted by having at least one juror review each agency’s website and compile
a list of any deficiencies. This work was then reviewed by at least two other jurors. Those three
jurors then reached a consensus for each agency. These agency website reviews were valid as of
February 20, 2020.
Discussion
The Public Should Know the Compensation of Its Elected Officials
The taxpaying public has a right to know the compensation of its elected officials. Compensation
may include the following:
■ Monthly wages or a fixed stipend per meeting attended
■ Additional compensation for sitting on affiliated boards, subcommittees, or
commissions, or for attending extra meetings on behalf of their agency
11 Marin County Civil Grand Jury, Special Districts Transparency Update, June 13, 2019,
https://www.marincounty.org/-/media/files/departments/gj/reports-responses/2018-19/special-districts-transparency-
update.pdf.
12 Marin County Civil Grand Jury, Special Districts Transparency Update, p. 5.
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■ Healthcare benefits
■ Retirement benefits
■ Reimbursement for travel, attending conferences, or industry events
■ Reimbursement for cell phones, computers, or tablets (or free use of such equipment)
The public should be informed that there is a wide variance in compensation policies. Some
agencies have adopted a policy not to compensate their elected officials. In addition, total
compensation and benefits paid to elected officials for similar agencies varies. The high and low
ranges for compensation at various types of agencies are summarized in Table 1. In some cases,
elected officials waive their right to some or all compensation.
County Supervisors
Unlike elected officials in most
cities, towns, and other agencies,
Marin County supervisors are full-
time employees and receive full-
time salaries and benefits. Total
2018 annual compensation for
members of the Marin County
Board of Supervisors ranged from
$173,000 to $186,000, plus benefits.
City and Town Council Members
For town and city councilmembers,
total annual compensation for 2018
ranged from zero in Belvedere,
Ross, and Tiburon to about $17,000 in San Rafael. Annual compensation was typically in the
$3,000 to $5,000 range, and councilmembers in some municipalities, including San Rafael,
elected to waive compensation.
Fire District Board Members
Total 2018 compensation for individual board members in Marin’s nine audited fire districts
ranged from zero to $2,800. Board members in the Bolinas, Sleepy Hollow, Southern Marin, and
Stinson Beach Fire Protection Districts do not receive compensation. In the Novato Fire
Protection District, 2018 compensation for one board member was about $2,800. The Central
Marin Fire Authority was formed in 2018 and, as of February 1, 2020, had not yet filed its first
compensation data with the state controller, but the agency is included in this report so that it will
fulfill the requirement that it post its compensation data.
Sanitation District Board Members
In Marin’s 10 sanitation districts, 2018 total annual board member compensation ranged from
zero in the Tiburon and Central Marin Sanitation Districts to as high as $19,000 in the Las
Gallinas Valley Sanitary District. Typically, annual board member compensation in Marin’s
sanitation districts ranges from $1,000 to $4,000.
Table 1. Ranges of Elected Officials Annual
Compensation in 2018
Agency Type Low* High
Cities/Towns $0 $17,000
Fire Districts 0 2,800
Sanitation Districts 0 19,000
Water Districts 1,600 39,000
* Low does not reflect those who waive compensation in agencies
that pay their elected officials.
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Water District Board Members
The 2018 annual board member compensation in Marin’s three water districts ranged from
$1,600 in the Stinson Beach Water District to $9,000 in the North Marin Water District to
$39,000 in the Marin Municipal Water District.
Legal Requirements Regarding Compensation Disclosures
There are two sections in the California Government Code requiring compensation disclosures.
Section 53892 requires that most public agencies (school districts are excluded) report annually
to the state controller the total compensation of all “elected officials, officers and employees.”13
The state controller publishes this information for all agencies on the Public Pay website.
Section 53908 requires that if an agency has a website “it shall post, in a conspicuous location on
its Internet Web site, information on the annual compensation of its elected officials, officers,
and employees that is submitted to the controller.” An agency could comply with this provision
by posting a complete table on its website that includes all of the data actually filed with the state
controller, and by updating that table each year. Section 53908 also allows an agency to comply
with the transparency requirement by posting, “in a conspicuous location on its Internet Web
site, a link to” the Public Pay site.14
The Grand Jury also notes that Section 53908 mentions twice that the Public Pay link must be
“conspicuous,” a term that is not defined in the code. For purposes of its investigation, the Grand
Jury decided that a link could be deemed conspicuous if it satisfies both of the following criteria:
■ The link is located on a page that is within three clicks of the website’s home page
(where a hover causing a menu to be revealed is equivalent to a click).
■ The link can be found within five minutes of starting a search, whether by browsing
menus or using a search box on the website.
This is a commonsense approach that, if anything, is generous to agencies, since internet users
are unlikely to invest as much as five minutes in such a search.
The Grand Jury also determined that a Public Pay link that does not go directly to the agency’s
page on the Public Pay site for the most recently available year should not be considered
compliant with the intent of the transparency requirements set forth in the law.
During its investigation, the Grand Jury discovered that some agencies were not reporting board
member compensation to the state controller’s office because they had been advised by the state
controller’s office that this was not required unless a W-2 form for the compensation was issued.
Some elected officials are paid fees for which W-2 forms are not issued. State officials have now
confirmed that the elected officials’ compensation must be reported regardless of how they are
paid.
13 California Government Code § 53892.
14 California Government Code § 53908.
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Public Transparency of Compensation for Elected Officials
Beyond the basic legal requirements in California state law, public transparency goals would be
better served by stronger disclosure of compensation policies and detailed compensation paid to
elected officials. While total compensation paid to elected officials can be found by clicking an
“Elected Officials” button on the agency’s page on the Public Pay site, as shown in Figure 1,
most users would not necessarily see this link and might need to scroll through multiple pages of
employees before finding the elected officials.
To make locating the information easier, a link can be included directly from the agency’s
website to the elected officials data on the Public Pay site. This can be done by simply adding
&rpt=5 to the end of a regular Public Pay URL link.
The data on the Public Pay site for elected officials is limited to total wages and total retirement
and health contributions. The site does not break out elements such as per-meeting stipends,
reimbursements or payments for serving as an agency liaison to other advisory committees,
councils, and forums. For better transparency on their websites, local agencies should disclose all
elements of compensation for their elected officials and establish this higher standard as best
practice for all of Marin County.
Both MMWD and the North Marin Water District have excellent practices with regard to
transparency on compensation of their elected officials. The MMWD website’s board page
provides a quick link to an annual compensation report detailing board compensation policies
Figure 1. Public Pay Elected Officials Page Example
Source: Government Compensation in California, accessed March 30, 2020,
https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Counties/County.aspx?entityid=21&year=2018&rpt=5
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and annual amounts paid to each member for regular board meetings, board committees, other
special board meetings, and liaison assignments to advisory committees, councils, and forums. It
also details total annual payments for conferences, training, and memberships, as well as medical
and dental benefits and other benefits, including iPad data plans. North Marin Water District
discloses several annual board compensation elements by a direct link to the financial report it
files with the state controller’s office, but it is not as detailed as the MMWD report.
Results of the Website Audit
The Grand Jury audit found that many website compensation links were missing or broken. In
other cases, links were not easy to find. Policies and compensation for elected officials were not
always posted. Thirty of the 34 audited agency websites failed to comply fully with legal
disclosure requirements.
Missing or Inconspicuous Links
Fifteen of 34 of the audited agency websites failed to post a compensation report or a
“conspicuous” link to their data on the Public Pay site. These agencies are shown in Table 2. The
worst example of this was the County of Marin’s website, where four jurors were each unable to
locate a compensation link after searching for at least 15 minutes.
In the investigation, the Grand Jury observed that several agencies post a link to the Transparent
California website rather than to the Public Pay website.15 Transparent California is not included
in Government Code Section 53908, so this does not comply with the legal requirements.
The Grand Jury recommends that all the noncompliant agencies identified in Table 2 remedy
these deficiencies by placing a Public Pay link on the web page listed in the table. Generally, the
audit revealed that the best location for a Public Pay link is either the finance or human resources
section of the agency’s website.
Link Does Not Go Directly to the Agency’s Most Recent Data
Many agencies include a Public Pay link on their website that is deficient because it connects the
user to an outdated page or to the state’s Public Pay home page rather than directly to the local
agency data on the Public Pay site. The Grand Jury believes this is largely due to a technical
oversight.
Appendix A contains the recommended Public Pay link for each audited agency, as well as links
for 22 additional agencies that were not audited. A key feature of these links is that they include
the ID number of the agency, but exclude any parameter specifying a year (an example of this
parameter is &year=2016). By excluding the specific year parameter, the link will automatically
lead a user to the most recent available data for that agency, and it will not become outdated over
time. This will save the agency the work of updating the link on an annual basis while reducing
the chance of errors in future postings.
15 Transparent California, accessed March 30, 2020, https://transparentcalifornia.com.
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Agency Websites Should Have a Link Directly to Elected Officials Data
Although it is simple to link directly to a page on the Public Pay website showing actual
compensation paid to elected officials, none of the audited agencies currently do so. All Marin
public agency websites should have a direct link from their board or council page to their
“Elected Officials” page on the Public Pay site. All Marin agencies should adopt this higher
standard of transparency.
A link to the “Elected Officials” page on the Public Pay site can be added simply by adding a
new parameter to the end of the normal Public Pay link as is shown for all agencies in
Appendix A. For instance, the City of San Rafael could include such a link by adding &rpt=5 to
Table 2. Agency Websites with Missing or Inconspicuous Links
to Compensation Data
Agency Recommended Conspicuous Location for Link
City of Mill Valley http://www.cityofmillvalley.org/gov/departments/finance/default.htm
City of Sausalito https://www.sausalito.gov/departments/administration/finance/financial
-documents
Town of Tiburon http://townoftiburon.org/154/Administration-Finance
County of Marin https://www.marincounty.org/depts/df
Bolinas Fire Protection
District*
https://www.bolinasfire.org/board-members
Central Marin Fire Authority** https://centralmarinfire.org/admin/finance
Kentfield Fire Protection
District
https://www.kentfieldfire.org/administration/finance-a-budget
Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection
District
https://shfpd.org/about-us/finances
Southern Marin Fire Protection
District
https://www.southernmarinfire.org/admin
Stinson Beach Fire Protection
District*
https://www.stinsonbeachfireprotectiondistrict.org/financials-budgets
Almonte Sanitary District https://www.almontesd.org/governance.php
Central Marin Sanitation
Agency
https://www.cmsa.us/finance/
Las Gallinas Valley Sanitation
District
http://www.lgvsd.org/about-us/board-of-directors/
Ross Valley Sanitary District
(Sanitary District No. 1)
https://www.rvsd.org/31/Open-Government
Stinson Beach Water District http://stinson-beach-cwd.dst.ca.us/index.html
* Existing link goes to Transparent California rather than Public Pay
** Formed in 2018 and not required to report for that year
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the end of its Public Pay link, resulting in the following:
https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Cities/City.aspx?entityid=256&rpt=5.
Agencies Should Post Compensation Policies and Annual Compensation Details
The Grand Jury audit revealed that compensation policies for many agencies either were not
posted or were scattered in a wide variety of hard-to-find locations. Eighteen of the 34 agencies
did not post such information on the board or council pages of their websites. As described
previously, public transparency is promoted by posting detailed information about the
compensation policies for elected officials. All agencies should post this information on their
board or council web pages. As an example, MMWD posts detailed information about the annual
compensation of its elected officials. All Marin agencies should adopt this higher standard of
transparency.
Conclusion
To make informed decisions on matters of self-governance, the public needs to understand the
workings of their public agencies, including the compensation of elected officials. Public
transparency helps to maintain trust in the government. It makes responsive democracy work.
By following the recommendations in this report, Marin’s public agency websites can come into
compliance with state legal requirements. Following these recommendations will reduce the
chance of errors and minimize the time needed to keep websites current. These changes also will
improve public access to important information while increasing the transparency that is
essential to good government in a democratic society.
Findings
F1. Many Marin public agencies fail to include on their websites either a link to the
publicpay.ca.gov site showing compensation for their elected officials, officers, and
employees, or a table showing such data. The Grand Jury determined that these agencies
fail to comply with the requirements of Government Code Section 53908.
F2. Any link to compensation data on an agency’s website that takes more than five minutes or
three clicks from the home page to locate, does not reasonably satisfy the intent of the
Government Code that the information be easily located and “conspicuous” on the agency’s
website.
F3. Any link to publicpay.ca.gov on an agency’s website that fails to go directly to the agency’s
current compensation data on that website does not satisfy the intent of the Government
Code that information be easily located.
F4. Regarding compensation policies for elected officials, many public agencies do not provide
the public with easy access to information regarding salary, meeting fees or stipends
(including compensation for serving as liaison to other advisory committees, councils and
forums), reimbursements, health and retirement benefits, and other benefits such as
equipment.
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F5. Regarding detailed disclosure of total compensation paid, most public agencies do not
break out all components of compensation paid to their elected officials, including salary,
meeting fees or stipends (including compensation for serving as liaison to other advisory
committees, councils and forums), reimbursements, health and retirement benefits, and
other benefits such as equipment.
F6. By comparison to other public agencies, Marin Municipal Water District annually publishes
an exemplary report on its website of total compensation paid to its elected officials for
salary, meeting fees or stipends (including compensation for serving as liaison to other
advisory committees), councils and forums, reimbursements, health and retirement benefits,
and other benefits such as equipment.
Recommendations
R1. To comply with the intent of Government Code Section 53908, no later than 90 days after
the date of this report, agencies should include on their websites a link to the
publicpay.ca.gov site showing compensation of their elected officials, officers, and
employees using the formatted URL examples that are shown in Appendix A.
R2. No later than 90 days after the date of this report, agencies should modify the location of
their existing publicpay.ca.gov links to satisfy the requirement of Government Code
Section 53908 that their link be “conspicuous.” Conspicuous locations for agencies are
suggested in Table 2.
R3. No later than 90 days after the date of this report, agencies should modify their existing
publicpay.ca.gov links so that they provide a direct link to their current compensation data
on the state site. To eliminate the need for annual updates, the URL used for the link should
exclude any parameter specifying a year. Formatted URL examples are shown on
Appendix A.
R4. No later than 90 days after the date of this report, in addition to any other compensation
links, agencies should include a link on their board or council web pages that leads directly
to their “Elected Officials” page on the publicpay.ca.gov site, conforming to the format
suggested on Appendix A.
R5. No later than 120 days after the date of this report, agencies should include on their board
or council web pages a comprehensive description of their policies regarding all
compensation paid to elected officials specifying, at a minimum, salary, meeting fees or
stipends (including compensation for serving as liaison to other advisory committees,
councils and forums), reimbursements, health and retirement benefits, and other benefits
such as equipment.
R6. No later than 120 days after the date of this report, agencies should adopt a practice to
compile and publish each year an annual report detailing the compensation actually paid to
their elected officials for the previous calendar year. Compensation disclosures should
include, at a minimum, salary, meeting fees or stipends (including compensation for serving
as liaison to other advisory committees, councils and forums), reimbursements, health and
retirement benefits, and other benefits such as equipment. A link to this report should be
posted on the agency’s board or council web page.
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R7. No later than 90 days after the date of this report, agencies not audited in this report should
review their websites for compliance with the legal requirements and higher public
transparency standards recommended in Recommendations R1–R6 of this report and ensure
that their websites include links to the publicpay.ca.gov site as shown in Appendix A.
Request for Responses
According to the California Penal Code, agencies required to respond to Grand Jury reports
generally have no more than 90 days to issue a response. It is not within the Grand Jury’s power
to waive or extend these deadlines, and to the Grand Jury’s knowledge, the Judicial Council of
California has not done so. But we recognize that the deadlines may be burdensome given
current conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whether the deadlines are extended or not, it is our expectation that Marin's public agencies will
eventually be able to return to normal operations and will respond to this report. In the meantime,
however, public health and safety issues are of paramount importance and other matters might
need to wait.
Pursuant to Penal Code Section 933.05, the Grand Jury requests responses from the following
governing bodies:
Respondent F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7
Audited Agencies
County of Marin X X X X X X X X X
City of Belvedere X X X X X
City of Larkspur X X X X X X X
City of Mill Valley X X X X X X X X X
City of Novato X X X X X
City of San Rafael X X X X X
City of Sausalito X X X X X
Town of Corte Madera X X X X X X X
Town of Fairfax X X X X X
Town of Ross X X X X X
Town of San Anselmo X X X X X
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Respondent F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7
Town of Tiburon X X X X X X X
Bolinas Fire Protection District X X X X X X X X
Central Marin Fire Authority X X X
Kentfield Fire Protection District X X X X X X X
Novato Fire Protection District X X X X X X X
Ross Valley Fire Department X X X X X
Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection
District X X X X X X X X X X X
Southern Marin Fire Protection
District X X X X X
Stinson Beach Fire Protection
District X X X X X X
Tiburon Fire Protection District X X X X X X X
Almonte Sanitary District X X X X X X X X X X X
Alto Sanitary District X X X X X
Central Marin Sanitation Agency X X X X X X X
Homestead Valley Sanitary
District X X X X X X X
Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary
District X X X X X X X
Novato Sanitary District X X X X X X X
Richardson Bay Sanitary District X X X X X X X
Ross Valley Sanitary District
(Sanitary District No. 1) X X X X X X X X X X X
Sanitary District No. 5 – Tiburon-
Belvedere X X X X X
Follow-Up Report on Web Transparency of Agency Compensation Practices
Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 13 of 18
Respondent F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7
Sausalito-Marin City Sanitary
District X X X X X
Marin Municipal Water District X X X
North Marin Water District X X X
Stinson Beach County Water
District X X X X X X
Agencies Not Audited
Bel Marin Keys Community
Services District X
Belvedere-Tiburon Joint
Recreation Committee District X
Belvedere-Tiburon Library
Agency X
Bolinas Community Public Utility
District X
Central Marin Police Authority X
Firehouse Community Park
Agency X
Inverness Public Utility District X
Marin City Community Services
District X
Marin Clean Energy (MCE) X
Marin County Resource
Conservation District X
Marin County Transit District X
Marin General Services Authority
(MGSA) X
Marin Healthcare District X
Follow-Up Report on Web Transparency of Agency Compensation Practices
Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 14 of 18
Respondent F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7
Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and
Vector Control District
X
Marinwood Community Services
District
X
Muir Beach Community Services
District
X
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit
District
X
Tamalpais Community Services
District
X
Tomales Village Community
Services District
X
Transportation Authority of Marin X
The governing bodies indicated above should be aware that the comment or response of the
governing body must be conducted in accordance with Penal Code Section 933 (c) and subject to
the notice, agenda, and open meeting requirements of the Brown Act.
Note: At the time this report was prepared, information was available at the websites listed.
Reports issued by the Civil Grand Jury do not identify individuals interviewed. Penal Code Section 929 requires that reports of
the Grand Jury not contain the name of any person or facts leading to the identity of any person who provides information to
the Civil Grand Jury. The California State Legislature has stated that it intends the provisions of Penal Code Section 929
prohibiting disclosure of witness identities to encourage full candor in testimony in Grand Jury investigations by protecting the
privacy and confidentiality of those who participate in any Civil Grand Jury investigation.
Follow-Up Report on Web Transparency of Agency Compensation Practices
Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 15 of 18
Appendix A – Direct Public Pay Internet Links
Properly Formatted PublicPay.ca.gov Link
Note: Agencies listed here can create a link to their “Elected Officials” page by adding &rpt=5 at the end of their Public Pay URL below.
Agency Agency Public Pay URL
Audited Agencies
City of Belvedere https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/cities/city.aspx?entityid=248
City of Larkspur https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/cities/City.aspx?entityid=251
City of Mill Valley https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/cities/city.aspx?entityid=252
City of Novato https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Cities/City.aspx?entityid=253
City of San Rafael https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Cities/City.aspx?entityid=256
City of Sausalito https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Cities/City.aspx?entityid=257
Town of Corte Madera https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Cities/City.aspx?entityid=249
Town of Fairfax https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Cities/City.aspx?entityid=250
Town of Ross https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Cities/City.aspx?entityid=254
Town of San Anselmo https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Cities/City.aspx?entityid=255
Town of Tiburon https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Cities/City.aspx?entityid=258
County of Marin https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Counties/County.aspx?entityid=21
Marinwood Community Services District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=947
Follow-Up Report on Web Transparency of Agency Compensation Practices
Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 16 of 18
Properly Formatted PublicPay.ca.gov Link
Note: Agencies listed here can create a link to their “Elected Officials” page by adding &rpt=5 at the end of their Public Pay URL below.
Agency Agency Public Pay URL
Bolinas Fire Protection District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1237
Central Marin Fire Authority Link not available at Public Pay as of February 20, 2020
Novato Fire Protection District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1239
Ross Valley Fire Department https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=2827
Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1240
Southern Marin Fire Protection District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1241
Stinson Beach Fire Protection District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1242
Tiburon Fire Protection District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1243
Almonte Sanitary District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1986
Alto Sanitary District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1987
Central Marin Sanitation Agency https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=2814
Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1989
Novato Sanitary District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1990
Ross Valley Sanitary District (Sanitary District No. 1) https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1992
Marin Municipal Water District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=2529
North Marin Water District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=2404
Follow-Up Report on Web Transparency of Agency Compensation Practices
Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 17 of 18
Properly Formatted PublicPay.ca.gov Link
Note: Agencies listed here can create a link to their “Elected Officials” page by adding &rpt=5 at the end of their Public Pay URL below.
Agency Agency Public Pay URL
Stinson Beach County Water District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=2405
Agencies Not Audited
Bel Marin Keys Community Services District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=945
Belvedere-Tiburon Joint Recreation Committee District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=2813
Belvedere-Tiburon Library Agency https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1623
Bolinas Community Public Utility District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=2198
Central Marin Police Authority https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=2831
Firehouse Community Park Agency https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=2818
Inverness Public Utility District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=2199
Marin City Community Services District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=946
Marin Clean Energy (MCE) https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=2821
Marin County Resource Conservation District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=2108
Marin County Transit District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=3399
Marin General Services Authority (MGSA) https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=2822
Marin Healthcare District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1552
Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1685
Follow-Up Report on Web Transparency of Agency Compensation Practices
Marin County Civil Grand Jury Page 18 of 18
Properly Formatted PublicPay.ca.gov Link
Note: Agencies listed here can create a link to their “Elected Officials” page by adding &rpt=5 at the end of their Public Pay URL below.
Agency Agency Public Pay URL
Marinwood Community Services District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=947
Muir Beach Community Services District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=948
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=3400
Strawberry Recreation District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=1905
Tamalpais Community Services District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=949
Tomales Village Community Services District https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=950
Transportation Authority of Marin https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/SpecialDistricts/SpecialDistrict.aspx?entityid=3480