Editorial: Putting the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisor Pay Increase into Perspective

Transcription

1 Editorial: Putting the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisor Pay Increase into Perspective Over the past week, emotions have run high after the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors decided to vote themselves a $32,000 pay raise. Under the ordinance, each supervisor s salary will equate to 70 percent of a Contra Costa County Superior Court judge s pay which is set by the State Legislator. They used a salary study to include the Bay Area counties: The counties of Alameda, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma. The move to take a $32,000 raise to increase their salary from $97,500 to $129,200 came after the Board of Supervisors had told employees of the County they had no funds and instead county employees agreed to 4% increases in 2014 and another 3% in For some perspective on the burden of cost, the raise to the Board of Supervisors was a total of $160,000 onto the county, that equates to a single position such as another County Probation Officer or even a Battalion Chief. While it s difficult to justify anyone giving themselves a 33% single bump in pay this was the first pay increase in nearly 9 years. Averaged out over the 9-years (33/9), this pay increase accounts to just 3.66% each year if they took an annual increase. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors knew there was going to be resistance to the raise and

2 knew they needed to highlight that they were the second lowest paid county supervisors just above Napa County. They also highlighted when it came to Contra Costa County, compared to Department Heads, which they are classified as, they are the lowest paid. For some perspective, I encourage anyone to go to the Contra Costa Times 2013 Salary Survey for County Employees. Spend some time on it because its a real eye opener. With regards to the current $97k Base Pay, the Board of Supervisors had nearly 800 County employees making a higher base salary. Under the new ordinance of $129k, the Board of Supervisors still have 275 county employees making a higher base salary. When looking at the 2013 total Cost of Employee (Overtime, vacation, sick leave, medical benefits, pension contributions, etc) the Board of Supervisors fall much farther down the rankings: Supervisor John Gioia $189,693 (estimated 1,100 workers ahead of him) Supervisor Federal Glover $180,663 (estimated 1,400 workers head of him) Supervisor Karen Mitchoff $173,612 (estimated 1,700 workers ahead of her) Supervisor Candace Andersen $167,828 (estimated 1,750 workers ahead of her) Supervisor Mary Piepho $166,209 (estimated 1,750 workers ahead of her) While on the surface, a 33% wage increase appears shocking, its important to for people to understand that none of the Supervisors ranked in the top 1,100 employees in For some perspective, here is a look at what middle management, workers that tend to be in leadership positions within a particular department, earned in 2013 (note, we have removed the employees name and did not include OT). While we certainly do not want to single out any position, but why is the Board of Supervisors $97,500 salary less than the LAFCO Executive Officer who makes $127k? A County Pharmacist making $133k? A CONFIRE Battalion Chief making $144k? A Sheriff Captain making $133k? First 5 Executive Director making $127k? A Sheriffs Lieutenant making $110k? A county librarian making $109k? Here is a look at some of the positions (does not include Overtime or benefits):

3 Position Title Asst County Counsel-Exempt County Counsel Base Salary $161,760 Chief Asst County Admin $156,145 Asst Fire Chief-Exempt $152,591 Asst Sheriff-Exempt $151,739 County Probation Officer-Ex $149,611 Asst Dir Of Health Svcs $148,445 Attorney Advance -Chld Sppt Svc $147,914 Deputy Public Defender Iv $146,203 Deputy District Attorney $146,091 Battalion Chief (56-hr) CONFIRE $144,942 Assistant Sheriff $143,462 Deputy Director of Public Works $136,757 Deputy Director of conservation Dev. $136,757 Sheriffs Chief of Forensic Services $136,548 Battalion Chief (40-hr) CONFIRE $135,577 Deputy Retirement CEO $134,076 Pharmacist per Diem $133,728 Deputy District Attorney-Basic $132,418 Captain Sheriff $130,081 Assistant County Auditor Controller $130,080 Children & Family Service Dir. $129,801 Board of Supervisors (Proposed) $129,216 LAFCO Executive Officer $127,785 First 5 Executive Director $127,522 Director of Mental Health Services $127,352 Deputy Public Works Director $127,164 First 5 Deputy Director $126,788 Deputy Public Defender IV $126,117 Assistant Director of Human Resources $125,002 Staff Nurse $124,621 Family Nurse Practitioner $120,477 Health Services Education and Training Spec $120,477 First 5 Finance & Operation Direct $118,954 Supervising Civil Engineer $117,683 Clinical Lab Manager $117,502

4 County Librarian $117,443 Assistant County Probation Officer $116,684 Employee Benefits Manager $116,323 Forensic Manager (Sherriff) $116,178 Capital Projects Division Manager $115,668 Alcohol/Other Drug Services Dir. $114,886 Nursing Program Manager $114,644 Public Health Nurse Program Manager $113,207 Ambulatory Care Clin Supervisor $113,061 Advice Nurse $112,954 Principal Real Property Agent $111,999 Info Systems Manager $111,457 Nursing Shift Coordinator $111,349 Captain (Emergency Services) $110,365 Lieutenant (Sheriff Police Services) $110,366 Administrative Lieutenant (Sheriff) $110,365 Director of Haz Mat Program $109,989 Assistant Director of Airports $109,397 Registered Nurse Advanced $109,384 Sr. Traffic Engineer $109,152 County Librarian $109,080 Network Manager (public defender) $107,922 Info System Project Manager (Library) $107,922 Fire District Info System Manager $107,922 Info System Manager 1 (Dept. Child Supp) $107,922 County Surveyor $107,866 Land Information Bus Ops Manager $107,764 Retirement Investment Analyst $107,725 Probation Director $107,512 Fire Captain (56-hr) $107,475 Quality Management Program Coordinator $105,643 Facilities Maintenance Manager $105,539 Fire Inspector $105,263 Deputy Co Clerk Recorder $104,931 Telecom Manager $104,914 Principal Planner (Conservation & Dev) $104,784 Sr. Civil Engineer $104,395 Stormwater Poll Cont. Manager $104,395

5 Pharmacist 1 $104,367 Dept. Sheriff Criminalist $104,206 PW Field Operations Manager (Public Works) $104,189 DA Sr. Inspector $104,036 Database Administrator $102,709 Chief Accountant $102,459 Chief Auditor $102,459 EHS Division Manager $101,780 Lieutenant (Sheriff) $101,732 Personnel Services Supervisor $101,318 Business Systems Manager $100,743 Probation Manager $100,342 Associate Civil Engineer $99,797 Calif Children Services Program Admin $99,649 First 5 Grants Program Manager $98,436 Employee Benefits Supervisor $98,000 Director office of Comm/Media $97,604 Board of Supervisor (John Gioia) $97,483 Board of Supervisor (Federal Glover) $97,483 Board of Supervisor (Karen Mitchoff) $97,483 Board of Supervisor (Mary Piepho) $97,483 Board of Supervisor (Candace Anderson) $97,483 Real Estate Manager $97,281 Engineer project $97,176 Fire District Chif/Admin Services $97,044 First 5 Early Chd Dev Prog. Spec $96,543 Chief Pediatric Therapist $96,350 Assistant Facilities Mnt $95,969 Assistant Dir-Rehab Ther Services $95,953 Aids Program Director $95,684 Fire Engineer /56-hr $95,340 First 5 Evaluation Coordinator $95,153 Firefighters/Paramedic $95,151 Utilization Review Coordinator $94,859 Registered Nurse experience level $94,797 Registered Nurse advanced $94,668

6 Health Services Info Tech $94,392 Ultrasound Technologist $94,274 Payroll Systems Administrator $94,096 Deputy Director Animal Services $91,876 Sergeant (Sheriff) $91,620 Human Resources Project Manager $91,230 Procurement Services Manager $91,183 Assessors Customer Service Coordinator $90,446 Public Health Nurse $89,925 General Services Facilities Supervisor $89,543 Probation Supervisor $89,244 Engineer Journey Level $88,250 Pre-Hospital Care Coordinator $87,084 Labor Relations Specialist (HR) $86,297 Contracts Administrator $85,980 Sr. Fire District Dispatcher (56hr week) $85,756 Social Worker Supervisor $85,302 Sr. Human Resources Consultant $82,676 Sr. Community Library Manager $82,336 Law Librarian $82,289 Homeless Services Program Dir $81,570 Note: Many classifications listed above have multiple employees in the same classification such as nurses, fire engineers, firefighters, Lieutenants, captains, etc. Meanwhile, BOS have just 5 positions. Some of those positions also get overtime which does not count towards the base salary. As we as a country are still digging ourselves out of an economic downtown, especially in Contra Costa County, its hard to see anyone getting a 33% raise, but if we want to continue to be competitive and attract the best we get we need to be able to pay a competitive rate. This goes for not only the Board of Supervisors, but all positions. If the unions were smart, instead of trying to embarrass the Board of Supervisors, they would be better off supporting this increase and using this salary survey to their advantage in all future negotiations. The county employees now hold the power in future negotiations because of the new salary

7 survey change which was used. If the negotiations go poorly, there is always the 2016 election where Supervisors Andersen, Glover and Piepho can be replaced. When looking at the big picture and the estimated million residents in the county, this $160,000 increase to the Board of Supervisors equates to just 16-cents for each Contra Costa County resident. Will Candace Andersen Accept Raise? With Candace Andersen being the lone vote against a pay increase, the question now becomes will she accept the raise if its approved Tuesday? It s easy to vote no when you know a pay raise will be approved by four other supervisors, but its another thing to reject it when the check is cut. Will her increase be donated will be telling of how she really feels about the raise. Time will tell.