MAYOR
JAVIER LOPEZ
CERES ca
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Team
Jul 23, 2026
Transparency Should Apply to Everyone
Public officials often call for transparency and accountability. I agree with those principles. In fact, I believe they should apply equally to everyone regardless of whether they currently hold office or not.
Recently, former Ceres City Councilmember Linda Ryno has publicly criticized the current City Council over the issue of elected officials receiving benefits. As someone who believes in open government, I wanted to review the public record for myself.
I didn't need to submit a California Public Records Act request. I didn't need to ask City Hall for documents. The information was already available to the public through Transparent California, a website that compiles public employee compensation records.
According to those records, Linda Ryno received the following reported benefits while serving on the Ceres City Council or as reflected in her council compensation records:
Year | Reported Benefits |
2013 | $1,091.00 |
2014 | $14,053.00 |
2015 | $14,180.00 |
2016 | $15,410.00 |
2018 | $18,502.56 |
2019 | $16,800.24 |
2020 | $17,203.00 |
2021 | $17,640.00 |
2022 | $5,880.00 |
Total Reported Benefits: $120,759.80
No Ceres payroll data is listed for 2017 on Transparent California.
These are not my numbers. They are publicly reported compensation records available for anyone to review.
That is why I find the current criticism difficult to reconcile with the public record. If benefits were acceptable while serving on the City Council, why are they now being portrayed as unacceptable when others receive them?
This isn't about whether benefits should or should not exist. Reasonable people can disagree on that policy question. What concerns me is consistency.
Public officials should be held to the same standard they expect of others. If we're going to have a conversation about taxpayer-funded benefits, it should include the full history—not just the portions that fit a current political narrative.
Transparency means looking at the entire record, even when it may be uncomfortable.
I believe the residents of Ceres deserve complete information so they can make informed decisions. The records are public, the numbers are available for anyone to verify, and everyone is free to review them independently.
At the end of the day, I trust the people of Ceres to examine the facts for themselves.
The records are public. Voters can draw their own conclusions.
Source: Transparent California public compensation records for the City of Ceres.