Riverside County Supervisors give themselves and other elected officials pay hikes

In a split vote, Riverside County supervisors approved pay raises for themselves and five other elected officials Tuesday, making the sheriff and district attorney better paid than their counterparts in several neighboring counties.

Supervisors Kevin Jeffries and Jeff Stone opposed the increases, while Supervisors Marion Ashley, John Benoit and John Tavaglione supported them.

“This is still not the best of economic times,” Stone said ahead of the vote. “Nobody believes we’re out of the economic doldrums that we found ourselves in back in 2007. The timing of any raises for elected officials sends the wrong message.”

Jeffries reiterated his position from Aug. 5, when the board first addressed the proposed hikes, saying he could not get behind pushing salaries higher based on principle. According to the supervisor, he had informed the Department of Human Resources to freeze his salary regardless of the board’s action.

Benoit called the salary adjustments “reasonable” and pointed out that unless the sheriff’s pay was boosted, the county’s top lawman would be making less than six executive-level sheriff’s officials, who are receiving six-figure salaries thanks to collective bargaining agreements.

When the boss makes less than an underling, the disparity is known as “compaction” in government speak.

The salary hikes, which take effect Sept. 18, will increase annual base compensation for Auditor-Controller Paul Angulo, Assessor-Clerk-Recorder Larry Ward and Treasurer-Tax Collector Don Kent by 16 percent, from $165,727 to $191,365.

District Attorney Paul Zellerbach, who will hand over the reins — and his paycheck — to veteran prosecutor Mike Hestrin in January, will receive an 11 percent hike, from $223,166 to $247,024.

And Sheriff Stan Sniff will will receive a 20 percent hike, from $223,166 to $268,101.

Each of the supervisors — except for Jeffries — will see their paychecks swell from $143,031 a year to $147,688.

The roughly 3 percent bump up stems from a formula established in the 1990s that guarantees supervisors receive 80 percent of the total annual base compensation collected by Superior Court judges.

Several speakers found fault with the adjustment.

“You’re taking advantage of your position by raising your incomes,” Meadowbrook resident Gary Grant told the board.

Temecula resident Paul Jacobs said the supervisors’ “experience and education (don’t) equal that of a judge,” and hence the compensation formula was unjustifiable.

“Your salaries are grossly out of proportion to other offices,” Jacobs said. “You’re making more than what a state assemblyman receives.”

Human Resources chief Michael Stock told the board last month that the five elected officials due for salary increases had not received any adjustments in pay since 2008.

Stock also noted that “a recent external market salary survey” comparing the earnings of similarly placed officials elsewhere supported the increases.

Salary schedules analyzed by City News Service showed that with the increases approved today, both the sheriff and D.A. will receive annual base compensation that easily rivals the earnings of counterparts in surrounding counties.

Sniff’s new $268,000 yearly salary compares to $144,088 for Imperial County’s sheriff, $207,984 for Orange County’s, $231,924 for San Bernardino’s and $234,012 for San Diego’s top law enforcement official.

Meantime Zellerbach — and soon-to-be Hestrin’s — new $247,000 annual income compares to $161,340 for Imperial County’s district attorney, $207,984 for Orange County’s, $214,332 for San Bernardino County’s, and $252,780 for San Diego’s top prosecutor.