The Nevada Policy Institute, operators of the public pay database Transparent California, has filed a lawsuit against Compton for allegedly refusing to release records showing how much the city pays its employees.
Transparent California publishes pay and pension data for more than 38 million California public employees by requesting such information from cities and other agencies annually.
But Compton has refused to turn over those records since 2021, though the state’s public records act requires it to do so, according to Todd Maddison, Transparent California’s director of research.
The lawsuit, filed Friday, Nov. 18, alleges Compton ignored multiple requests until April 2022, when the city responded by providing a copy of anonymous payroll data sent to the California State Controller’s Office. The state’s “Government Compensation in California” website, which similarly collects payroll information, does not include the names of employees, while Transparent California’s database does.
Most cities have provided Transparent California with records for 2021, but Compton hasn’t complied since it turned over its 2019 data roughly two years ago.
If successful, the lawsuit would force Compton to turn over the records via court order.
In a statement, Maddison alleged the California Public Records Act’s lack of teeth enables agencies to ignore the law. At best, a plaintiff in public records lawsuit can hope to get the records they seek, plus perhaps their attorney’s fees covered....
Nigel Farage has been condemned for falsely suggesting five men arrested on suspicion of terror offences near RAF Fairford were Iranian. The Reform UK leader suggested the incident, which saw five...