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Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland (Tribune de Geneve and 24 Heures,
Fre) – Local media are looking closely at the meager information
available about the salaries of public servants and discovering that
some are better paid than speculation previously allowed. Bilan,
the Swiss economic monthly, is publishing the results of a survey of
all Swiss towns with populations of over 2,000 to see what they pay
their city managers and mayors. The magazine found that the best paid
mayor is Daniel Brélaz of Lausanne, who earns CHF265,464 a year.

In Geneva, the Tribune has been probing for information on
salaries of public servants for some months and today publishes figures
whose source is an advance report by the Cours des comptes (accounting
office), which appears to show that several public figures earn more
than was thought, and in some cases more than they have acknowledged
publicly. At the top of the list are the SIG (Services Industriels de
Geneve, public utility) board president, Daniel Mouchet, with
CHF374,011 for a fulltime post and Raymond Battistella, administrative
head of the SIG, with CHF401,461. The Tribune article has a graph showing the salaries for top posts. The newspaper also carries an editorial
by Arthur Grosjean who argues that too many senior public figures have
hidden their true salaries and that the cantonal council has not done
an adequate job of overseeing salaries, nor has it been transparent
enough.