08-11-08, Glendale City Salary Schedule --- Complete and Up to Date

Below this paragraph is the direct link to a 13 page document that has the current salaries of all Glendale city employees. You will note that there are 6 salary steps. I would estimate that 97% of employees are at step 6. Some of the job classifications have only 5 steps. The salary figures represent base level amounts and do not reflect any additional compensation obligations that are specified in employee contracts. The figures are monthly base levels only. If you are like me, you will need a calculator to get the annual amounts. Some of the classifications, including all sworn public safety personnel, have many add-ons, such as for having a two or four year college degree, or being bilingual. In the fire department, if you work normal office hours, you receive an additional 11% above base salary. About 45% of all firefighters are certified paramedics and receive an additional 16% above base salary. There are too many add ons to list here.

These salaries also do not reflect any overtime. In the fire department last year, firefighters averaged $30,000 in overtime. A firefighter only has to work two additional shifts per month to make that amount of overtime in a year. Police officers received about $8000 each in overtime last year. The police department has a reserve component that helps reduce overtime. The fire department, which is a more suitable operation for reserves has none, in spite of the fact that 75% of all fire departments in the entire country have reserves or volunteers (same thing). The reason why the fire department does not have a reserve program is that its union has been very successful in endorsing and funding council races. It is not in their financial best interest to have a reserve program. In 1998, the Los Angeles Area Fire Chiefs published a statement endorsing the use of reserve firefighters to reduce out-of-control overtime. That was ten years ago and the matter has gotten much worse. The political influence of the fire union trumps fiscal common sense to the detriment of the public and taxpayer. Bruce Philpott.

http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/admin-svcs/pdf/SalarySchedule_070108.pdf