Ousted Social Services Chief Not Hurting Yet : County: Richard Jacobsen is on sick leave collecting salary and benefits while officials negotiate his removal from the county payroll.

San Diego County officials and Richard W. Jacobsen, former director of the scandal-plagued social services department, are close to an agreement under which Jacobsen would leave the county’s employment.

In the meantime, however, Jacobsen has spent the past two months out on accrued sick leave, drawing his $111,000 annual salary, health benefits, retirement compensation and a $400 monthly car allowance, according to county records.

County Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen said he was unaware that Jacobsen continued to receive the $400 monthly car payments despite having been removed from his post April 6.

“We’re not going to do that anymore,” Janssen said.

Jacobsen received the $400 June payment for maintenance and upkeep of his vehicle in his paycheck Friday and also received one in May, said Robert Powell, deputy auditor and controller.

Jacobsen was removed April 6 as chief of the social services department as the last managerial move of outgoing CAO Norman Hickey. His departure followed blistering reports from the county grand jury alleging widespread fraud in the administration of county welfare programs and hostility to families involved in Child Protective Services cases.

County Chief Probation Officer Cecil Steppe was named interim director of the department. But Jacobsen retains his title and all the pay and benefits that come with them, despite not having worked a day since he was removed, Janssen said.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had someone out on extended sick leave,” Powell said, when questioned about Jacobsen’s car allowance. “It’s probably something we should take a look at.”

Jacobsen’s time cards show he has been on sick leave for all but one week since his departure, during which he took executive time off, Janssen said. It is not uncommon for longtime county employees to accrue hundreds of hours of sick time, according to Janssen and other employees.

Janssen declined to specify Jacobsen’s illness. Jacobsen could not be reached for comment.

Janssen said that Jacobsen’s attorney and county attorneys are negotiating a settlement that would probably be finalized next week. He declined to say whether Jacobsen would leave the county under the deal, but said it would not include a severance payment.

A knowledgeable source close to the negotiations said, however, that any settlement would involve Jacobsen leaving the county’s employment. Hickey received a $68,000 severance payment despite leaving the county to take a job as city manager of St. Petersburg, Fla.

The supervisors were sharply criticized for authorizing the payment at a time when county employees were being asked to take voluntary time off to help close the county’s budget deficit.