Pay Hikes
RIVERSIDE (CNS) – The Board of Supervisors Tuesday formally approved double-digit pay hikes for themselves and five other Riverside County elected officials, despite public criticism and lack of support from two board members.
“I can understand pay raises for our employees, when we can afford it,” Supervisor Kevin Jeffries said. “I can even understand pay raises for elected officials when reasonable. Everybody has been hit hard by inflation. But these raises are too much, too fast. This is not the path you want to take going forward. I came into office accepting that I would be serving the public. I never took a raise as a state legislator, or water board member.”
Jeffries, the most senior member of the board, voted against the salary increases, while Supervisor Karen Spiegel abstained from voting. Board Chairman Chuck Washington, along with Supervisors Yxstian Gutierrez and Manuel Perez, voted in favor.
Jeffries has consistently refused raises for himself since first elected in 2012, making him the lowest paid of the entire board. The incumbent will retire at the end of the year, and one of the two men seeking election to his First District seat in November — former Assemblyman Jose Medina, D- Riverside — vowed on Tuesday to remain faithful to Jeffries’ no-raise policy for himself if elected.
“These pay raises amount to 19 to 28% salary increases. (It’s) at a time when other county residents are struggling to pay their bills, and it’s not the time to give yourselves raises,” Medina said. “This is absurd. Individuals seek public office for many reasons, but personal financial gain shouldn’t be one of them.”
Medina is in a run-off with Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, for the First District seat.
Spiegel said she was uncomfortable granting herself a raise, but she wanted the other elected officials who generally hadn’t received pay hikes in a decade to receive salary adjustments because “they deserve a pay raise.”
The board voted on two modified salary ordinances that were conjoined, and the ordinance related to the board will enable each member — except Jeffries — to receive a 19% increase, with annual salaries going from $190,783 to $226,359. Jeffries’ annual base salary will remain where it has been since he started — $143,031.
Rancho Mirage resident Brad Anderson said ahead of vote that “this board should make an example for other county employees and anybody else who works in government to (show) that maybe you’re not worth as much as you want.”
“This type of increase, on top of the other benefits you receive, are excessive,” he said.
Under the new salary regime, District Attorney Mike Hestrin’s salary will go from $273,463 to $351,481, a 28% hike; Sheriff Chad Bianco’s salary will go from $273,463 to $347,771, a 27% jump; Assessor-Clerk-Recorder Peter Aldana’s annual pay will go from $195,191 to $247,859, a 27% raise. The latter adjustment was also granted, at the same exact amount, to Auditor-Controller Ben Benoit and Treasurer-Tax Collector Matthew Jennings.
With the exception of Hestrin, who received a salary bump in 2018, the other four elected officials in that group had not received hikes since 2014, according to county CEO Jeff Van Wagenen, whose annual compensation package totals $362,679, according to public records.
Van Wagenen and county Executive Office staff said in a report that, in some cases, supervisors’ chiefs of staff were currently earning more than their bosses.
The same condition was cited, in part, for justifying the other elected officials’ salaries. For example, Undersheriff Don Sharp currently takes in $305,062 in annual compensation, topping his boss’ present salary by nearly $32,000 annually. Sharp has worked for the sheriff’s department longer and enjoyed union representation during much of his tenure.
In government speak, when the boss makes less than a subordinate, the disparity is known as “compaction.”
The board has been approving new multi-year compacts with the county’s collective bargaining units, guaranteeing “merit” pay and related compensation hikes on an annual basis, even though some of the recipients are now telecommuting, removing some of their prior labor burdens.
Board Chairman Chuck Washington admitted during the initial board hearing on the salary hikes that it was “awkward” to vote for a pay hike for one’s self.
“But I think it’s reasonable to make sure elected officials are not being punished because we’re afraid to make tough political decisions,” he said.
Market analyses provided by the Executive Office indicated that, among boards of supervisors, Riverside County’s is in line with pay rates in neighboring Orange and San Bernardino counties, but lower than San Diego County’s and Los Angeles County’s. The average came to $208,669.
Among district attorneys in the region, Hestrin was equal to San Bernardino County’s DA, but below the other three counted in the market survey, while Bianco trailed them all. With the new comp adjustment, the sheriff will now only be earning less than Los Angeles County’s sheriff, by about $30,000 annually.
The supervisors’ salary hikes will take effect in 60 days, and the other officials’ hikes will take effect in 30 days, putting the increases within the 2024-25 fiscal year, at total cost of $812,501.
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