City News Service
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – The 10 highest-paid officials in Riverside County government last year were working in public safety and public health, according to a report released today by the California Controller’s Office.
The agency published its 2024 “Government Compensation in California” analysis, showing how taxpayer funds were spent in the previous year, and who was receiving what for being on the public payroll.
The data is available at www.publicpay.ca.gov.
“This report is a vital tool in promoting fiscal transparency and accountability in local government,” Controller Malia Cohen said. “Californians deserve to know how public funds are being spent and who isbeing paid with their tax dollars.”
The individual who received the largest income in county government was an unnamed staff psychiatrist for the Riverside University Health System’s Department of Behavioral Health. The individual received a total of $540,881, a large part of which may have been related to overtime claims.
In the 2023 report, Sheriff Chad Bianco was identified as the county employee with the largest composite compensation at $593,518. In 2024, the sheriff, who is running for governor on the Republican ticket, did not even land in the top 100, taking a backseat to union-represented master investigators and lieutenants, who grossed salaries well in excess of $400,000.
Amounts documented by the controller’s office include base pay, overtime and lump sum disbursals, which are often tied to banked vacation and sick leave time that wasn’t used, sometimes for years, but then cashed out.
The second-highest paid in 2024 was an unnamed District Attorney’s Office bureau commander, whose composite salary last year was $539,539. The D.A.’s office could not immediately confirm the reasons for the significant earnings, though they were possibly bundled into a retirement payout.
Figures showed the next in line was another RUHS psychiatrist, who received $536,644, followed by Director of Behavioral Health Dr. Matthew Chang, whose total intake last year was $522,783. Chang has consistently ranked in the top 10 in the 2020s.
Nos. 5-8 on the list were additional psychiatrists, whose annual earnings ranged from $476,513 to $520,277.
Riverside University Health System-Medical Center CEO Jennifer Cruikshank, whose total comp last year was $470,253, ranked No. 9, according to the report.
Rounding out the top 10 was an unnamed psychiatrist assigned to Detention Health Services, geared to inmates, for which the doctor was paid $468,619 in 2024.
County CEO Jeff Van Wagenen was at No. 30, with total compensation of $399,214, according to the report.
The five members of the Board of Supervisors were way down the list for annual comp packages, making less than many deputy district attorneys, deputy public defenders, registered nurses, sheriff’s administrators, pharmacists, assistant medical directors and others. A “senior legislative assistant” for one of the supervisors was even paid well above his or her boss at $341,794 in 2024, according to data.
The supervisors’ composite pay ranged from $143,042 to $226,359 in 2024, with Supervisor Kevin Jeffries, who retired at the end of December, at the bottom because he consistently declined pay raises. The man elected to fill his seat, Jose Medina, assumed the same salary, vowing to voluntarily freeze his compensation in keeping with the tradition established by his predecessor.
The controller’s website indicated the average pay for a county employee last year was $65,739. County government is the single largest employer in Riverside County, maintaining more than 25,000 positions. Roughly $2.23 billion in total wages were paid in 2024.
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