CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
June 23, 2011 | Shane Goldmacher and Evan Halper
As a high school kid in Illinois, John Chiang ran for student council on a populist platform: ridding the lunchroom jukebox of disco music. "That was the major wedge issue," recalled a friend who was his campaign partner. Disco was fading. Punk and new wave were coming in. They won. Chiang, now the Golden State's controller, became vice president of the student body -- a notable achievement for one of the school's few Asian kids and the target of name-calling and racial slurs.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
July 15, 2010 | Jeff Gottlieb and Ruben Vives
Bell, one of the poorest cities in Los Angeles County, pays its top officials some of the highest salaries in the nation, including nearly $800,000 annually for its city manager, according to documents reviewed by The Times. In addition to the $787,637 salary of Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo, Bell pays Police Chief Randy Adams $457,000 a year, about 50% more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck or Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and more than double New York City's police commissioner.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
March 21, 2010 | By Michael Rothfeld
After its president was ousted in a scandal, California's government-run insurance company hired Janet Frank to clean up the mess, offering her a salary and benefits far beyond the reach of most state workers. As the new president of California's largest provider of workers' compensation coverage, the insurance industry veteran received a $450,000 annual salary plus a signing bonus of nearly $140,000 to help her move from Colorado, employment records obtained by The Times show. For her first 2 1/2 months on the job, starting in 2007, she was paid a $40,000 performance bonus by the insurer, a hybrid public-private company known as State Fund, which serves as a safety net for businesses.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
March 6, 2010 | By Shane Goldmacher
In one of her last acts as speaker of the state Assembly, Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) quietly doled out 10% pay raises and promotions to 20 of her staff members. The raises, which Bass approved last week on her final day as speaker, come as California continues to grapple with an estimated $20-billion deficit. More than 200,000 rank-and-file state workers have been forced to take three unpaid furlough days each month, the equivalent of a 14% pay cut, to help balance the state's books.
BUSINESS
March 4, 2010 | By E. Scott Reckard
Freed from government compensation restraints after repaying bank bailout funds, Wells Fargo & Co. more than doubled the pay of its top executives, with a $21.3-million package going to Chairman and Chief Executive John G. Stumpf. The bank disclosed the compensation for 2009 in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday. Stumpf's pay shot up 142% from $8.8 million in 2008. Repaying $25 billion to the U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program on Dec. 23 relieved Wells Fargo of restrictions on institutions receiving government funds.
SPORTS
February 22, 2010 | By Bill Shaikin
The Dodgers could seek to keep their player payroll below last year's level through 2018 while the average ticket price and club revenue could nearly double, according to confidential financial documents included in a court filing last week. The documents, submitted by former Dodgers chief executive Jamie McCourt in divorce proceedings against owner Frank McCourt, offer a rare glimpse into the finances of a major league club. The documents -- prepared by the McCourt management team in May to solicit Chinese investors for a partnership that could have included the Dodgers, a soccer club in Beijing and another in the English Premier League -- show that the Dodgers spent $128 million in player compensation for their 40-man roster in 2007, then spent $123 million in 2008.