Report Reveals Highest Paid on County Government Payroll

RIVERSIDE (CNS) - The 10 highest paid officials in Riverside County
government last year were working almost entirely in public health, according
to a report released Tuesday by the California State Controller's Office.
  

The agency on Tuesday published its 2025 Government Compensation in
California analysis, showing how taxpayer funds were spent in the previous
year, and who was receiving what for being on the public payroll.
  

The data is available at publicpay.ca.gov.
  

As in 2024, the individual who received the largest income in county
government was an unnamed staff psychiatrist for the Riverside University
Health System's Department of Behavioral Health. That doctor received a total
$608,296, a large part of which may have been related to overtime claims.
  

Amounts documented by the controller's office include base pay,
overtime and lump sum disbursals, which are often tied to banked vacation and
sick leave time that went unused, sometimes for years, then cashed out.
  

The second- and third-highest paid in 2025 were also Behavioral Health
psychiatrists, both unnamed, taking home $569,294 and $560,356, respectively.
  

No. 4 on the list was Director of Behavioral Health Dr. Matthew Chang,
who has consistently landed in the top 10 since the beginning of the
decade. His composite salary last year was $553,240. Just behind him was
another unidentified psychiatrist, whose total earnings were $545,811.
  

No. 6 was Riverside University Health System-Medical Center CEO
Jennifer Cruikshank, whose total comp last year was $517,042, according to the
report.
  

Figures showed next in line was another RUHS psychiatrist, identity
not disclosed, who received $508,604,
  

An unidentified sheriff's master investigator was at No. 8 and the
only non-medical classification in the top 10, with a total intake of $501,453,
some of which may have been tied to a lump sum payout.
  

Rounding out the 10 highest paid were unnamed psychiatrists, one
assigned to detention health to service the jails, and the other designated
broadly as a Behavioral Health specialist, with annual incomes of $496,506 and
$489,415, respectively.
  

County CEO Jeff Van Wagenen was at No. 20 for earnings in 2025,
compared to No. 30 in 2024. His total compensation last year was $439,606,
according to figures.
  

The five members of the Board of Supervisors were way down the list
for annual comp packages, making less than District Attorney Mike Hestrin,
whose earnings totaled $392,002, Sheriff Chad Bianco, at $391,069, or Public
Defender Steve Harmon and Chief Counsel Minh Tran, who received $366,407 and
$365,912, respectively. The supervisors were also behind many sheriff's
sergeants, deputy district attorneys, deputy public defenders, registered
nurses, pharmacists, medical administrators and others.
  

The supervisors' composite pay ranged from a high of $257,439 to a low
of $133,913 in 2025, with Supervisor Jose Medina at the bottom. In keeping
with a standard set by his District 1 predecessor, retired Supervisor Kevin
Jeffries, Medina has vowed to keep his salary frozen for the duration of his
service.
  

The controller's website indicated that the average pay for a county
employee last year was $73,713, compared to $65,739 in 2024. County government
is the single largest employer in Riverside County, maintaining more than
26,000 positions. Roughly $2.36 billion in total wages were paid in 2025.
  

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