Fake Check Scams Compensation: East Palo Alto Sanitary District And

Compensation: East Palo Alto Sanitary District And The West Bay Sanitary District

El Ravenswood continues its series on public agency compensation with this issue focusing on the two sanitary sewer districts serving both East Palo Alto and Menlo Park. The two wastewater special districts, the East Palo Alto Sanitary District (EPASD) and the West Bay Sanitary District (WBSD), have their boundaries stretching into both cities.

In 2018, the East Palo Alto Sanitary District had five employees while West Bay Sanitary District had 30. In the same year, the General Manager’s compensation accounted for 8% of the West Bay Sanitary District’s total personnel budget, however the East Palo Alto’s General Manager/ District Engineer’s compensation accounts for 50% of the agency’s total personnel budget.

While the average compensation for the Board of Directors for West Bay was $5,005 annually, accounting for 0.14% of its total personnel budget, the average director compensation for the East Palo Alto Sanitary District was $16.576 in 2018, accounting for 4% of the District’s personnel expenses. In addition, EPASD directors receive benefits.

Special districts are local government agencies established in a community to provide a service usually in an area not provided by the county or city. Special districts are either enterprise districts that bill customers directly or through property taxes (such as both the EPASD and Westbay Sanitary District) or non-enterprise districts that are funded by voter-approved taxes or assessments (e.g., recreation or fire districts). Dennis Scherzer, the longest serving Director on the East Palo Alto Sanitary District.

Glenda Savage Highest compensated Director in 2018. Akin Okupe General Manager/ District Engineer.

Phil Scott West Bay Sanitary District 2018 General Manager

West Bay Sanitary District was established in 1902 and continues to provide wastewater collection and conveyance services to the City of Menlo Park, Atherton, and Portola Valley, and areas of East Palo Alto, Woodside and unincorporated San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The District conveys raw wastewater, via the Menlo Park Pump Station and force main, to Silicon Valley Clean Water (SVCW) for treatment and discharge to the San Francisco Bay. The District maintains and operates over 200 miles of main line sewer system.

Westbay Sanitary District Compensation (2018) Position Regular Pay Total Wages Benefits District Manager $ 216,585 $ 260,709 $ 33,316 Projects & It Manager $ 167,152 $ 171,602 $ 25,712 Operations Superintendent $ 160,778 $ 165,228 $ 24,732 Pump Facility Supervisor $ 125,663 $ 149,853 $ 19,330 Assistant Operations Supt. $ 130,724 $ 136,684 $ 20,109 Construction Inspector $ 111,473 $ 139,162 $ 17,147 Operations Supervisor $ 117,034 $ 135,429 $ 18,003 Accountant $ 124,876 $ 129,326 $ 19,209 Compliance Coord. $ 121,551 $ 126,166 $ 18,698 Source Control Insp. $ 107,180 $ 120,572 $ 16,487 Info. Tech. Analyst $ 105,966 $ 111,872 $ 15,878 Maintenance Worker $ 102,951 $ 107,794 $ 15,990 Office Manager $ 100,948 $ 105,398 $ 15,528 Field Supervisor $ 97,593 $ 102,583 $ 15,012 Senior Admin Tech. $ 91,020 $ 95,583 $ 14,099 Maintenance Worker $ 61,283 $ 98,316 $ 9,183 Field Supervisor $ 77,013 $ 92,588 $ 11,540 Source Control Inspector $ 83,388 $ 87,838 $ 12,827 Field Supervisor $ 74,075 $ 87,378 $ 11,100 Engineering Tech. $ 79,836 $ 84,756 $ 11,963 Maintenance Worker $ 62,356 $ 83,511 $ 9,344 Pipeline Inspection Tech. $ 66,244 $ 79,702 $ 9,926 Maintenance Worker $ 58,812 $ 70,106 $ 8,813 Admin Technician $ 65,635 $ 68,500 $ 10,096 Reg. Compl. Coord. $ 72,803 $ 76,280 $ Maintenance Worker $ 53,909 $ 60,361 $ 8,078 Admin Technician $ 50,264 $ 55,194 $ 7,532 Temp. Maint. Worker $ 53,776 $ 56,082 Maintenance Worker $ 43,387 $ 46,772 $ 6,501 Maint. Mechanic $ 22,598 $ 23,982 $ 3,386 Board President $ 6,422 $ 6,422 Board Member $ 5,555 $ 5,555 Board Member $ 5,127 $ 5,127 Board Member $ 4,505 $ 4,505 Board Member $ 3,418 $ 3,418 TOTAL $ 2,831,900 $ 3,154,354 $ 409,539 Lump Sum Pay $ 294,025 $ 197,314 $ 189,960 $ 169,183 $ 156,793 $ 156,309 $ 153,432 $ 148,535 $ 144,864 $ 137,059 $ 127,750 $ 123,784 $ 120,926 $ 117,595 $ 109,682 $ 107,499 $ 104,128 $ 100,665 $ 98,478 $ 96,719 $ 92,855 $ 89,628 $ 78,919 $ 78,596 $ 76,280 $ 68,439 $ 62,726 $ 56,082 $ 53,273 $ 27,368 $ 6,422 $ 5,555 $ 5,127 $ 4,505 $ 3,418 $ 3,563,893

East Palo Alto Sanitary District Compensation (2018)

The East Palo Alto Sanitary District was established in 1939. The initial sewer lines were installed as a Works Projects

Administration (WPA) project. The District maintains a thirty-two-mile-long underground sewer pipe system.

Job-Title General Manager/District Engineer Maintenance Worker I Maintenance Supervisor Executive assistant Interim General Manager Board Member Board Member Board Member Board Member Board Member TOTAL Regular Pay $ 171,270 $ 43,209

$ - $ - $ - $ 16,544 $ 16,544 $ 12,411 $ 10,605 $ 13,531 $ 284,114 Total Pay $ 207,866 $ 50,670 $ 22,596 $ - $ - $ 16,544 $ 16,544 $ 12,411 $ 10,605 $ 13,531 $ 350,768 Benefits $ 25,169 $ 27,737 $ 20,074 $ 6,083 $ 3,969 $ 9,358 $ 8,610 $ 9,358 $ 5,399 $ - $ 115,758 Total pay & benefits $ 233,036 $ 78,407 $ 42,670 $ 6,083 $ 3,969 $ 25,903 $ 25,154 $ 21,770 $ 16,004 $ 13,531 $ 466,526

East Palo Alto Sanitary and West Bay Sanitary District Compensation Comparison

Number of Employees Total Payroll Highest Salary Lowest Salary Median Salary Director Compensation Average Highest Paid Director West Bay Sanitary District 30 $ 3,563,893 $ 294,025 $ 27,368 $ 97,593 $ 5,005 $ 6,422 East Palo Alto Sanitary District 5 $ 466,525 $ 233,036 $ 6,082 $ 42,670 $ 16,576 $ 25,154