3 Officials Act to Get Pay Measure Off Nov. 4 Ballot

Calling it a “mean-spirited . . . poorly drafted” measure that would lead to a mass exodus of top public employees, three Los Angeles County officials have asked the state Supreme Court to order a controversial salary-limiting initiative off the Nov. 4 ballot.

Sheriff Sherman Block, one of the three officials, said his future in public life could be determined by the high court’s decision on the measure. Block’s $91,319 salary would be slashed to $64,000 if the measure is approved.

“I am considering whether or not I will leave before Election Day . . .,” Block said in an interview Thursday. “I think I am still a marketable commodity in the private sector.”

Sponsored by Paul Gann

Block joined county Fire Chief John Englund and Dr. Sol Bernstein, County-USC Medical Center’s medical director, in attacking as unconstitutional the ballot measure sponsored by tax crusader Paul Gann. The measure also illegally covers more than one subject and violates federal protections of senior citizen employees, according to the three officials.

In a petition filed in Los Angeles late Wednesday, the three asked the Supreme Court to prevent Secretary of State March Fong Eu from placing the measure on the November ballot. Melissa Warren, a spokeswoman for Eu, said the petition is the first filed against the pay-limitation measure.

If the request is granted, it would be the third time in as many years that the high court had taken such an extraordinary action. In 1983 and 1984, the high court ordered initiatives dealing with reapportionment and a federal balanced-budget amendment off the ballot, respectively.

Gann, contacted in Sacramento, said he was not surprised by the legal challenge “because we expected it.”

Gann added: “You can bet your bottom dollar we’ll fight it. . . . The people are angry and upset, and we will be back if they beat us.”

The Gann measure, also known as the California Fair Pay Amendment, has sent shock waves through state and local government because it not only targets the salaries of top officials but also could affect the accumulated benefits of rank-and-file employees. Under its provisions, the governor’s salary would be limited to $80,000 while all other elected or appointed state and local officials could receive top salaries of 80% of that, or $64,000.

The salaries of most elected officials already fall below $64,000, but many, like Block’s $91,319, exceed the proposed ceiling. So do the salaries of most top appointed managers in both Los Angeles City and County governments, including Fire Chief Englund ($89,250) and county hospital’s Bernstein ($95,436).

Bernstein, in a sworn declaration, said the vast majority of the 370 doctors working at County-USC receive more than $64,000 a year, salaries that could be cut if voters approve the measure.

Doctors’ Resignations Predicted

“In my opinion, based on my official knowledge, virtually all the staff doctors on my staff would resign or look for work elsewhere if the initiative is enacted,” Bernstein said.

Also potentially affected by the measure’s passage are sick leave, overtime and vacation benefits accumulated by other public employees. The initiative bars year-to-year accumulation of such time-off benefits, a provision that the three officials predicted would lead to “immediate chaos” if thousands of public safety employees, in particular, begin using their accumulated leave before Jan. 1.

Gann contends that the measure applies only to elected and appointed officials, not to rank-and-file Civil Service employees.