SamTrans releases salaries of top earners

Call it the Bell effect.

The San Mateo County Transit District, which oversees Caltrain, SamTrans and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority, is voluntarily releasing the salaries of its top earners, which includes the general manager, who earned over $450,000 in salaries and benefits in 2009. The move of transparency follows revelations earlier this year that public officials in the small Southern California town of Bell were earning exorbitant salaries, including city manager Robert Rizzo who was paid nearly $800,000 in annual wages.

Michael Scanlon, who manages three separate transit entities, earned $400,668.36 in base wages in 2009. The San Mateo County Transit District also contributed $17,150 to his pension, $22,000 in deferred compensation and $19,537 for his health package plan. Overall, his total compensation for 2009 was $459,355.

In the past year, both SamTrans and Caltrain have been forced to cut service and increase fares to bridge million-dollar budget deficits.

Other top earners in the district included Operations CEO Chuck Harvey, who took home $215,337 in wages, CFO Virginia Harrington, who earned $190,217.08 in wages, and public affairs director Mark Simon, who earned $142,654.63.

The San Mateo County District said the release of employee salaries is the first step in a continuing series to promote transparency within the organization.