L.A. Times arrives at the “retirement pay” party a little late

The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday published a story about local police chiefs cashing out hundreds of thousands in unused sick, leave and retirement pay when they retire.

It comes nearly two years after former San Gabriel Valley Tribune reporter Thomas Himes broke open this topic when he was covering Monterey Park.

Here’s a link to Tom’s story from September 2010.

The Orange County Register then followed with a comprehensive story about police chief pay.

The Register found that Downey in 2009 paid former Police Chief Roy Campos a combined $624,000 in pay and benefits when he retired that year.

Although the L.A. Times focused on police chiefs, the practice of piling up benefits to be cashed out upon retirement is not at all unique to police departments.

Current Glendora City Manager Chris Jeffers cashed out $484,000 when he quit the same post in Monterey Park. Himes also uncovered that many of the managers in Monterey Park were annually getting three months worth of vacation, leave and sick time.

And downeybeat.com in February found that employees in Downey were collecting huge cash outs when they retire.