Pay Hikes for Supervisors Get Initial OK

County supervisors gave preliminary approval Tuesday to increasing their pay by more than 20%--to $55,000 from $45,612 per year--effective next Jan. 1.

The board also voted raises of up to $11,627 per year to 19 elected or appointed heads of agencies and departments, retroactive to July 5.

The board increased the salaries of Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks, who is elected, and Environmental Management Agency Director Murray Storm and County Counsel Adrian Kuyper, both of whom are appointed, to $88,046, ranking them second only to Larry Parrish, the county administrative officer, who earns $90,000. Previously, Hicks received $80,496, Storm $78,146 and Kuyper $78,832.

Sheriff’s Increase Biggest

The biggest raise went to Sheriff-Coroner Brad Gates, whose $67,392 salary was increased to $79,019.20, making his pay equal to that of Public Defender Ronald Butler.

The decision on supervisors’ salaries passed on a 4-1 vote and is expected to become final after another vote by the board, scheduled for next week.

Supervisor Harriett Wieder was the lone dissenter, saying that in principle she was opposed to the board setting its own salary and that she had hoped the Orange County Grand Jury would have recommended a process for determining salaries of supervisors. Under current law, the supervisors must set their own salaries.

Grand Jury Report Cited

The raise will make the salaries of the supervisors nearly even with those ofsupervisors in San Diego County, who as of Jan. 1 will receive $55,817, but will leave them well behind Los Angeles County supervisors, who earn $73,769.

Parrish, in a report to the supervisors recommending the raises, noted that the grand jury in May recommended raising supervisors’ salaries in stages to reach $75,000 in 1991. The grand jury, however, recommended that the first raise, to $55,000, take effect in January of 1987, rather than next January as Parrish recommended.

When the grand jury issued its report, supervisors said they were happy with its conclusions, especially the recognition that having the board set its own salary is a “politically sensitive issue.”

Supervisor Bruce Nestande said Tuesday that the proposed increase for board members is “very fair. I think it’s not out of line. It’s less comprehensive than what the grand jury called for.”

The grand jury said that in recent years the job of supervisor has grown from part-time to full-time and requires that the board “perform both legislative and executive functions.”

‘Negotiate at Highest Levels’

“They (supervisors) represent over 2 million Orange Countians; they administer a budget of over $1 billion and preside over more than 11,000 regular full-time county employees and close to 2,000 part-time extra help,” the grand jury said.

“They negotiate for the county at the highest levels of industry and government and their decisions have a vital effect on all Orange County citizens,” the jurors added.

The grand jury said that although it realized money was not a major motive in the making of a supervisor, it saw no reason for inadequate pay.

Parrish also told the supervisors in his report that nine heads of county departments or agencies currently make about the same amount or, in some cases, even less than their subordinates.

He said a comparison of pay scales with those of other counties “shows that, although Orange County is the second largest county in the state, most of our agency/department heads rank between third and eighth in compensation.”

Officials’ Status Changed

The increases to elected and appointed officials ranged from mGates’ $11,627 to $3,286 for Agricultural Commissioner William Fitchen and Linda Roberts, clerk of the Board of Supervisors.

The pay raises given to officials appointed by the board were conditioned on the recipients signing an acknowledgement that from now on they will serve “at the will or pleasure” of the supervisors.

Currently, most department and agency heads who are appointed serve a one-year probationary period and then can be removed only for reasonable cause. The executives also have the right to appeal a dismissal to an arbitrator.

Parrish said the change in status of department heads did not mean anyone was about to be fired. “There’s no reason that somebody ought to say, ‘If I sign this, I’m dead,’ ” he said.