Grand Jury Overstated City Council Earnings

The cost of salaries and benefits for the mayor of Martinez and City Council members is less than $98,000 for 2009-2010, not more than $130,000 as originally reported by the Contra Costa grand jury, according to city officials.

The confusion originated over the fact that the grand jury asked in September for the salary and benefits of all elected officials, according to Assistant City Manager Alan Shear. The number the panel was given by the city included the salary and benefits of the city clerk and treasurer as well as the mayor and members of the City Council.

When the grand jury report came out earlier this month, it identified the Martinez council as having the highest overall costs in the county for health insurance, and the third-highest cost for salaries.

"The new figures put us about on par with Pleasant Hill," Shear said. "We thought those initial figures were pretty high, so we went back and looked at what we gave the grand jury. We wanted to make sure they were comparing apples to apples."

The revised numbers put Martinez in third place in the county for health insurance and seventh place for salaries. The salary and benefit package for the mayor and council comes to $97,945.