Yolo Deputies Take Pay Plea to Voters

WOODLAND, Calif. —  After two years without a contract and three without a pay increase, Yolo County sheriff’s deputies are turning to the voters for a raise.

Contract talks with the county have stalled, and deputies are taking action to put a pay-raise initiative on the June or November ballot next year.

The deputies became the lowest-paid law enforcement officers in the county in September, when the small farm town of Winters gave its police force a raise.

Last week, the Yolo County Deputy Sheriffs Assn. voted unanimously to spend $5,000 to draft the initiative and prepare petitions, said Deputy Larry Garcia, the association’s vice president. Deputies need signatures of 10% of the county’s voters to qualify the measure for the ballot.

Deputies presently earn between $1,780 and $2,163 a month.