Contra Costa County, California
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Contra Costa County is one of
58 counties in
California.
Martinez is its county seat.
[edit] County website
- Main article: Evaluation of California county websites
[edit] The good
- The names and contact information of all board of supervisors members is available.[1]
- Board of supervisors meeting agendas and videos of sessions are published.[2]
- The names and contact information of all administrative officials is available.[3]
- Audit reports are published.[4]
- Tax information is published.[5]
- The current budget is published.[6]
- Information on building permits and zoning is available.[7]
[edit] The bad
- There is no information on contracts or lobbying.
[edit] Salaries of county employees
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility won a lawsuit against Contra Costa County in July 2009. A court ruled that the organizations are entitled to a list of names and total retirement benefits for all Contra Costa County employees receiving an annual pension of at least $100,000. The taxpayer groups argued that the records should be public because (unlike the IRA and 401k plans of private citizens), the public employee benefit plans pay a guaranteed amount and are funded by taxpayers. Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Barry Baskin ruled in favor of the groups, saying a "transparent government is the cornerstone of our democracy."[8]
[edit] Lobbying
- Main article: California taxpayer-funded lobbying
Contra Costa pays for services of the lobbying firm Alcade & Fay. [9] For 2007 and 2008, the county spent $1,632,256 on lobbying. [10]
| Subsidiary
| Amount
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| Contra Costa County | $1,228,398
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| Cities of Contra Costa County | $132,000
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| Contra Costa Transportation Authority | $76,000
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| Contra Costa Water District | $195,858
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| TOTAL | $1,632,256
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[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ↑ Board
- ↑ Meetings
- ↑ Contacts
- ↑ Financial Documents
- ↑ Financial Documents
- ↑ Budget Documents
- ↑ Building permits
- ↑ Legal Newsline, "Calif. judge orders release of public pension data", July 4, 2009
- ↑ Client List
- ↑ State-Level Lobbying and Taxpayers: How Much Do We Really Know?, Pacific Research Institute
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