This commentary was first published by the San Diego Union-Tribune It is going to be much easier for California governments to hide their affairs from the public if the legal standard put […]
Robert Fellner
FBI special agent still collecting CalPERS disability pension

In an op-ed for today’s San Diego Union-Tribune, I describe how the recent court ruling in our CalPERS lawsuit will be used to undermine governmental transparency across the state. I also take aim at […]
California’s 100k club grows as tax hikes mount
Our recent report on California’s exploding $100K club has generated quite a bit of coverage, perhaps none better than the recent Orange County Register editorial, “California’s 100k club grows as tax hikes mount.” The editorial […]
Court ruling threatens to gut California’s public records law

It is going to be much easier for governments to hide their affairs from the public, if the legal standard put forth in a just-issued Sacramento County court ruling is upheld. Last […]
Nearly 80,000 California retirees are receiving $100,000 or more in pension pay, new data show

Update 12/23/19: The statewide total is now 80,540 after accounting for new data from the University of California, which saw a 24.5% year-over-year increase in their $100K club. The number of California […]
Over 2 million public pay records are now online!
Transparent California now has more than 2 million pay records covering the 2018 year for California’s state and local government workers. We also have nearly 200,000 pay records for community college employees, which is even more […]
Central San gives up its crown

In 2015, we wrote about the unfairness of a proposed rate hike by Central San, while the district was simultaneously spending ratepayer money on things like “Rolls-Royce-style health, dental and vision insurance […]
Wildly inflated health costs are costing California taxpayers $3.3 billion annually

Spending 52 percent more than the market average for public employees’ medical insurance is costing California taxpayers at least $3.3 billion annually, according to a Transparent California analysis of 672,000 payroll records […]
Trio of LA-area city workers made over $2 million last year, as California’s poorest residents continue to pay for the state’s richest pay packages

Hawthorne residents are paying the nation’s highest sales tax in order to sustain bloated pay packages for city workers, like the $717,258 that went to former Police Chief Robert Fager last year. […]
Hospital CEOs top pay list, as top earner clears $10 million over the past five years

The heads of public health agencies are once again atop the list of California’s highest-paid special district workers. Transparent California now has 2018 pay data for over 125,000 special district workers statewide, […]