By Jorge Casuso

August 21, 2026 – Six Santa Monica City employees earned more than half a million dollars in pay last year, excluding benefits, and were among the 71 municipal workers who made more than $350,000, according to data compiled by Transparent California.

Transparent California City of Santa Monica Salaries (CLICK HERE)

The top earner -- Senior Fire Inspector Ryan A. Demirdjian -- made a total of $605,011 in total pay, including $172,721 in base pay, $345,503 in overtime pay and $86,787 in other pay, which includes payouts for unused vacation and sick leave, as well as incentive and bonus pay.

In addition, the City paid Demirdjian a total of $67,842.91 in benefits that included employer-paid health insurance and pension contributions for the year, bringing his total in pay and benefits to $672,853.91, according to the database.

When benefits are included, Sean J. van Sluis topped Demirdjian in total pay and benefitts, making a total of $686,408.72, with benefits accounting for $84,722.72 and overtime pay for $303,027.

The two top earners were among the 18 City employees who made more than $500,000 in salary and benefits, including 12 firefighters and 8 police officers who earned a large share of their money in overtime pay.

Of the 71 municipal workers who made more than $350,000 in pay, excluding benefits, 68 were firefighters and police officers. The other three were former City Manager Susan Cline, former City Attorney Doug Sloan and Chief Deputy City Attorney Jenna K. Taggart.

A total of 279 City employees made more than $250,000 excluding benefits, according to the database.

The data posted for Santa Monica is the most up-to-date information available from Transparent California -- the state’s largest database of public pay and pension data -- which has now collected and posted more than 50 million compensation and pension records.

On Tuesday, the public records platform announced it had obtained 2024 data covering more than 93 percent of employee compensation and pension payments in California, including state, county, city, school district and special records.

The 2024 database includes almost 3 million compensation records documenting $278 billion in total pay and benefits, and 1.5 million pension records with $64 billion in payments. In 2024, a total of 149,065 public employees in California made total compensation exceeding a quarter-million dollars a year.

"Transparent California’s data collection schedule is determined by the State Controller’s Office reporting requirements," platform officials said. "The inordinate delays allowed by the state, as well as significant resistance from some of the agencies involved, is why we’re just now wrapping up 2024."

Transparent California’s Director of Research, Todd Maddison said in a statement, “As we see more tax increase proposals appearing, we’re focused on giving the People the data they deserve to see how their existing tax dollars are being spent, so they can make informed decisions at the ballot box.”