By Karen Velie
While all San Luis Obispo County residents are being asked to vote in November for a half-sent sales tax increase for transportation improvements, large raises for some administrative and public safety employees are taking a bigger bite out of city budgets.
While the bulk of city employees receive pay increases of approximately 3% per year, over the past five years increases have been much higher for some administrators such as a 38% increase in salary and benefits for the city manager of Grover Beach and a similar increase in pay for the Morro Bay chief of police position.
While San Luis Obispo continues to have the highest paid city employees in the county, because of large pension debt payments, their numbers were abnormally high in 2024.
CalCoastNews evaluated earnings information from Transparent California, a public pay and pension database, to determine the four top-paid employees in each of the seven cities in SLO County. The totals include salary, benefits and pro-rated pension funds.
Compensation information is from 2024, the last time the seven cities filed with Transparent California.
Four highest paid employees from each of the seven cities in SLO County
City                   Pay/Benefits   Title                       Name
| San Luis Obispo | $531,280 | Deputy Police Chief | Frederick Mickel |
| San Luis Obispo | $509,415 | Deputy Police Chief | Brian Amoroso |
| San Luis Obispo | $506,556 | Fire Battalion Chief | John MacDonald |
| San Luis Obispo | $478,867 | Fire Battalion Chief | Ray Hais-Doyle |
| Arroyo Grande | $380,250 | Police Chief | Michael Martinez |
| Pismo Beach | $376,643 | Police Chief | Jeffrey Smith |
| Grover Beach | $376,421 | City Manager | Matthew Bronson |
| Pismo Beach | $370,928 | City Manager | Jorge Garcia |
| Atascadero | $363,143 | Fire Chief | Casey Bryson |
| Arroyo Grande | $360,940 | Assistant City Manager | William Robeson |
| Paso Robles | $351,982 | City Manager | Ty Lewis |
| Morro Bay | $351,209 | Deputy Fire Chief | Matthew Vierra |
| Atascadero | $342,578 | Police Chief | Daniel Suttles |
| Paso Robles | $341,940 | Operations Battalion Chief | Brian Lewis |
| Morro Bay | $336,998 | Police Chief | Amy Watkins |
| Paso Robles | $329,134 | Police Chief | Damian Nord |
| Morro Bay | $327,979 | City Manager | Yvonne Kimball |
| Pismo Beach | $325,743 | Police Commander | Christopher Trimble |
| Paso Robles | $321,972 | Fire Captain | Joel Platter |
| Pismo Beach | $317,211 | Police Commander | Daniel Herlihy |
| Morro Bay | $314,763 | Fire Chief | Daniel McCrain |
| Atascadero | $310,711 | Fire Battalion Chief | Matthew Miranda |
| Arroyo Grande | $309,449 | City Manager | Matt Downing |
| Arroyo Grande | $301,824 | Police Commander | Zak Ayala |
| Atascadero | $300,255 | City Manager | James Lewis |
| Grover Beach | $298,703 | Police Chief | James Munroe III |
| Grover Beach | $271,845 | Police Commander | Bryan Millard |
| Grover Beach | $267,694 | Assistant City Manager | Kristin Eriksson – Embree |
Competitive my ass , anyone who lives and works on the central coast works in paradise . The types of issues law enforcement has to deal with are nothing compared to other cities . Considering most Paso cops come from the valley and where paid peanuts in comparison there . Who would not want to come make that kinda money to harass homeless . Profile and belittle the locals . When you join an organized syndicate that prays on the people .you should get well paid. And don’t forget when they get caught doing something horrific like sexual assault (Maguire ) inappropriate sexual work environment ( liza and ty )or trafficking children ( lewis and burtons ) the city will cover it up then pay them even more money and deny deny deny. (Miss Haul) . So where is all the parking money they were supposed to return ? Has anyone seen the new house he bought it from our mayor.
Your comments, Glenn, are highly inaccurate and clearly you have a grudge. You are incorrect on so many of these issues I don’t even know where to start. How about, “harass the homeless and profile and belittle the locals”. Your opinion, one that could not be further from the truth.
So when officials cry there isn’t enough money for things like fixing roads, public safety, maintenance on infrastructure, and such now more know where all the money is going, many of us knew this for a while but here it is in black and white.
Also remember this when school districts claim they need more money for the children, classroom, supplies or janitors and teachers, false, they have plenty of money they just choose to use the money in a way that takes it away from the students and such and uses it for administration.
2 million dollars pay to 4 employees? $370K for a city manager? No way any of these “civil servants” could make this kind money in the private sector. They have the public employee unions to thank and of course the taxpayer.
This is why the government wants to increase your taxes. This is but a snapshot of the hundreds of thousands of state, county and city employees throughout California. Plus their multi-million dollar pensions.
So how many over-priced city and county bureaucrats could be replaced with AI at a fraction of the cost, from this list alone I see at least 30-40% right off the bat and in a few years we could approach 55-65%.
And in some cases, AI would be more functional!
I’m really surprised MB Police Chief make more that Grover and Paso Police Chiefs? How can this be?
Which cities do to you think have to deal with more crime?
The good news is that those who have discretionary options are well paid by the taxpayer’s and not the criminals. That said, I’m surprised the pay is that high when layers of subordinates are doing the actual process / work. Reducing travel and increasing use of zoom meetings would keep travel expenses and consequences to a minimum.
In some cases I’m pretty sure they are also well paid by the criminals.
“asked to vote in November for a half-sent sales tax increase”
Maybe the intent was to write half-cent? It is actually “half a percent increase” (fifty basis points). If you purchase an item for $1000 your increase is not half of a cent it is $5.
California has a habit of forgetting its own fiscal history. Assembly Bill 1383, currently moving through the Legislature, is the latest proof. The bill, authored by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, D-Inglewood, would roll back key protections established by the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA). It would lower the retirement age for public safety workers from 57 to 55, create a new and more expensive 3%-at-age-55 benefit formula and expand the salary ceiling used to calculate pension payouts.
Read more at: https://www.sanluisobispo.com/opinion/article316400241.html#storylink=cpy