Former Redlands Deputy Chief Collects $1.2 Million in 2025, Topping California's City Payroll After Retaliation Settlement

Former Redlands Deputy Chief Collects $1.2 Million in 2025, Topping California's City Payroll After Retaliation Settlement

The Numbers

Travis Martinez, the former Deputy Chief of the Redlands Police Department, brought in roughly $1.2 million in total wages in 2025, according to payroll data published by the California State Controller's Office and reported by the New York Post. That makes him the highest-paid city employee in the entire state for the year.

The breakdown, per the state's own figures: $81,804 in regular pay, $890,467 in "other compensation," and $231,099 in lump-sum payments, all before Martinez officially retired in April 2025. Add roughly $55,900 the city kicked in for retirement and health benefits, and his total package hits about $1.26 million. Public records compiled by the transparency group Transparent California confirmed Martinez as the employee behind the numbers.

Where the Money Came From

This wasn't a salary. It was a settlement.

According to the Orange County Register, the payout stemmed from a legal dispute between Martinez and the city of Redlands that dragged on for roughly 18 months while Martinez sat on paid administrative leave. The city agreed to pay Martinez about $872,000 as part of a deal in which he dropped his legal claim and retired.

In a 2023 filing, Martinez alleged city officials retaliated against him after he reported what he described as misconduct inside the police department. Among his claims: that he raised concerns about efforts to conceal evidence connected to a fatal Metrolink train crash, and that he reported allegations of sexual misconduct involving then-Deputy Chief Mike Reiss to the FBI after concluding the department wasn't handling the matter internally.

Martinez described his 29-year career with the department as exemplary in his filing. These are his allegations, laid out in a legal claim, not findings from a trial or independent investigation. The city settled rather than litigate the case to a verdict, which means no court ever ruled on whether the retaliation actually happened.

The Reiss Allegations

Mike Reiss, the deputy chief Martinez says he reported to the FBI, retired from the department in 2023 after being accused of grooming and sexually harassing multiple department employees. Those are allegations, not criminal convictions. No charges against Reiss are noted in the available records.

Former Police Chief Chris Catren retired just days before Reiss, and has denied any connection to the controversy surrounding his former deputy.

The fallout has been expensive for Redlands taxpayers regardless of how any individual allegation is ultimately proven. Over the past three years, the city has approved more than $3.3 million in settlements tied to sexual harassment lawsuits connected to Reiss, according to the Orange County Register's reporting cited by the New York Post.

The Fair Question

Someone could reasonably look at this and say a $1.2 million payday to one retired official looks like exactly the kind of government excess taxpayers should be furious about. A million-dollar check funded by Redlands taxpayers is a big deal no matter the backstory.

But the backstory matters. If Martinez's claims hold up, this wasn't a bonus for good performance. It was the price the city paid to settle a whistleblower retaliation dispute rather than let a jury decide it. Cities routinely calculate that settling is cheaper than the legal costs and reputational risk of a trial, whether or not the underlying claims are true.

The settlement structure is a defensible calculation based on litigation risk. It doesn't answer the deeper question: why did it take an 18-month paid leave and a near-million-dollar settlement for Redlands to resolve internal allegations about a fatal train crash and a fellow deputy chief's alleged conduct?

What's Unresolved

No court has ruled on Martinez's underlying retaliation claims because the case settled before trial. No criminal charges against Reiss appear in available public records. The city has not disputed the $3.3 million in harassment-related settlements tied to his tenure.

Redlands taxpayers are now on the hook for both the Martinez settlement and the broader harassment litigation, with no public accounting yet of what internal reforms, if any, followed. Transparent California's payroll database remains the primary public window into what city employees actually cost taxpayers, and this case is a reminder that the biggest checks don't always come from a paycheck stub.