Public Records Blues
On Feb. 6, 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune published "Payday Blues" -- an extensive look into the disparities in pay between public safety officers throughout Salt Lake County. The article was the result of a months-long effort, using Utah's Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) to obtain personnel records from each city and the county government.
Recognizing that GRAMA denotes certain information as "records that must be disclosed," most of the queried agencies promptly complied with the newspaper's requests for
the names, genders and compensation of their public safety officers.
But there was one city that gave us a tougher fight. Officials from Sandy refused to turn over the names of police officers and firefighters, arguing in part that disclosure of the identities of these officers might impair investigations or place the officers' safety in jeopardy. Among other arguments, they cited the kidnappings and murders of Iraqi police officers as evidence that it was bad policy to reveal the identities of public safety officials.
The Utah State Records Committee, which seeks to resolve public records disputes, disagreed with Sandy and ordered the city to turn over the information.
The city initially declined to provide segregated base pay, arguing that the committee's order and state law only required it to provide the sum total of all forms of renumeration given to each employee. Eventually, the city relented on the issue of salary, but continued to decline to provide segregated figures for benefits, overtime, bonuses, incentives and other forms of pay.
The city's response did give us enough information to work with in order to produce the Payday Blues article -- which revealed, among other things, that "with morale plummeting, many Sandy police officers and firefighters, who are among the lowest paid in Salt Lake County, are quietly seeking jobs elsewhere." Meanwhile, the article continued, "Sandy's top administrators are among the best paid in the county."
The article caused quite a stir -- and letters and phone calls we received from Sandy employees following the publication of that story steeled us to continue the fight for the other forms of compensation, particularly as several of the e-mails hinted of chronyism in the city's extensive bonus program.
"I'm sure the administrators are getting nearly all of the bonus money," wrote one employee. "I've heard rumors that the chief receives up to $10,000," added another.
Back before the State Records Committee, the newspaper won another order for Sandy to turn over the its bonus and overtime information.
But this time, the city sued to keep the information from the public eye, sparking a three-year legal battle which resulted in a judge's order for Sandy to disclose the information — and to pay the newspaper's legal fees of more than $30,000. That order, and other documents from the 3rd District Court case, can be found here and here.
Last month, The Tribune began analyzing those records. The resulting article, online now and to be published in print in Sunday's Tribune, reveals a bonus program that disproportionately rewards top administrators from all city departments -- and even provides Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan with a $1,000+ "thank you" bonus, each year.
Dolan'
s check pales in comparison to those received by city administrator Byron Jorgenson and 11 other city leaders who help administer the program, each of whom picks up the equivalent of about a month's salary in bonuses, year after year.
Meanwhile, most city employees who do get bonuses get the equivalent of a few day's pay. And hundreds get nothing at all.
In the wake of the Payday Blues article, Sandy's police officers and firefighters were given substantial raises. Recent interviews with officers indicates that morale appears to have improved and the rapid emigration of officers to other, better-paying municipalities has slowed.
What will be the result of our article about Sandy's secret bonus program? We'll be watching closely.
- mdl/mc
Recognizing that GRAMA denotes certain information as "records that must be disclosed," most of the queried agencies promptly complied with the newspaper's requests for
the names, genders and compensation of their public safety officers.But there was one city that gave us a tougher fight. Officials from Sandy refused to turn over the names of police officers and firefighters, arguing in part that disclosure of the identities of these officers might impair investigations or place the officers' safety in jeopardy. Among other arguments, they cited the kidnappings and murders of Iraqi police officers as evidence that it was bad policy to reveal the identities of public safety officials.
The Utah State Records Committee, which seeks to resolve public records disputes, disagreed with Sandy and ordered the city to turn over the information.
The city initially declined to provide segregated base pay, arguing that the committee's order and state law only required it to provide the sum total of all forms of renumeration given to each employee. Eventually, the city relented on the issue of salary, but continued to decline to provide segregated figures for benefits, overtime, bonuses, incentives and other forms of pay.
The city's response did give us enough information to work with in order to produce the Payday Blues article -- which revealed, among other things, that "with morale plummeting, many Sandy police officers and firefighters, who are among the lowest paid in Salt Lake County, are quietly seeking jobs elsewhere." Meanwhile, the article continued, "Sandy's top administrators are among the best paid in the county."
The article caused quite a stir -- and letters and phone calls we received from Sandy employees following the publication of that story steeled us to continue the fight for the other forms of compensation, particularly as several of the e-mails hinted of chronyism in the city's extensive bonus program.
"I'm sure the administrators are getting nearly all of the bonus money," wrote one employee. "I've heard rumors that the chief receives up to $10,000," added another.
Back before the State Records Committee, the newspaper won another order for Sandy to turn over the its bonus and overtime information.
But this time, the city sued to keep the information from the public eye, sparking a three-year legal battle which resulted in a judge's order for Sandy to disclose the information — and to pay the newspaper's legal fees of more than $30,000. That order, and other documents from the 3rd District Court case, can be found here and here.
Last month, The Tribune began analyzing those records. The resulting article, online now and to be published in print in Sunday's Tribune, reveals a bonus program that disproportionately rewards top administrators from all city departments -- and even provides Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan with a $1,000+ "thank you" bonus, each year.
Dolan'
s check pales in comparison to those received by city administrator Byron Jorgenson and 11 other city leaders who help administer the program, each of whom picks up the equivalent of about a month's salary in bonuses, year after year.Meanwhile, most city employees who do get bonuses get the equivalent of a few day's pay. And hundreds get nothing at all.
In the wake of the Payday Blues article, Sandy's police officers and firefighters were given substantial raises. Recent interviews with officers indicates that morale appears to have improved and the rapid emigration of officers to other, better-paying municipalities has slowed.
What will be the result of our article about Sandy's secret bonus program? We'll be watching closely.
- mdl/mc
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