Fire Captain Is Pleasanton's Top Paid City Employee In 2021

PLEASANTON, CA — A fire captain from the Livermore Pleasanton Fire Department is the highest paid government employee in Pleasanton for 2021, according to numbers released by the California State Controller's Office.

Coming in at $371,353 with base pay and benefits, the fire captain position, which typically pays between $137,569 – $144,454, out-earned former Pleasanton City Manager Nelson Fialho, who left the city earlier this year, by more than $65,000.

The fire captain's pay, includes a base rate of $143,684, along with $216,243 of overtime pay and $11,426 in other pay, which according to the controller's office, could include everything from meeting stipends to bonus pay.

The next highest paid municipal employee in Pleasanton was a fire engineer coming in at $355,209 followed by a firefighter paramedic at $350,316. Two fire captains at $346,703 and $313,663, respectively, rounded out the top five.

Fialho ranked 6th for the city coming in at $306,184 with a base pay of $237,771 and $68,413 in lump sum pay.

Fire department-related roles made up nine of the city's ten highest employee wages.

The highest paid city council members in the state belonged to the city of Los Angeles, with wages sitting above $200,000. The highest paid mayor in the state belonged to San Francisco, with a wage of $353,802, followed by Los Angeles. The ranking did not differentiate between full- and part-time employees.

View all the local statewide data using this link.

Emily Rahhal contributed to this story.