The Los Angeles Times on Monday lamented the county's foot-dragging in handing over the names and salaries of its top-paid employees. The paper question's the county's legal defense for withholding the information from public view.

In the wake of the Bell salary scandal, in which a few city officials were found to have been making President Obama-level (and beyond) money, the paper wants to know who makes how much at the county government.

Well, we at LA Weekly know the answer, and we told it to you earlier this month:

Two-hundred-seventeen people who work for the county make $250,000 a year or more, including a sheriff's “commander” who tops the list with $440,915.61 in income last year.

Not to rib the Times too much: The paper has a point — the county is holding back. In a list of those in the 250k club that we saw, names of District Attorney's office, sheriff's and fire department employees were redacted, apparently in the name of security.

What makes them more in need of security than, say, the county's number-two money maker, Elaine C. Yang, a senior physician at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center who took home $430,909.32 in total earnings last year? We don't know.

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