County OKs Ahmanson Plan, Lops Perks : Compensation: Supervisors soften the financial blow on themselves and other officials by increasing base salaries.

After four months of controversy, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to accept a citizen committee’s proposal to eliminate large financial perks for itself and other elected leaders.

But the supervisors, agreeing with the recommendations of a nine-member citizens committee appointed to study county pay scales, softened the financial blow on themselves and other county leaders with a major increase in base pay.

The supervisors voted unanimously to follow the recommendation of the county’s perks panel to increase their base salary by $14,300--to $64,543--while slashing half a dozen of their perks.

The board also agreed to fold longevity, vacation and education benefits into the base salaries of the sheriff, district attorney, and four other elected officials--resulting in a basic pay increase of up to $24,000 for those officials.

As a large crowd of county department heads and other county employees watched, Supervisor Maggie Kildee took the occasion to praise the panel’s work and express the opinion that the new salaries are fair.

“You have said to us and to the people of this county that supervisors and the (other) elected officials are being paid a reasonable amount of money,” she said. “It is within the ballpark of what it ought to be.”

Other supervisors hailed the decision as a chance to put the pay issue behind them, portraying the recent months of controversy as something that could have been avoided by full disclosure of the county’s complex pay and benefits system when it was quietly adopted in 1989.

“I think that as I look back on it, the board should have taken action to make sure this information was made public,” said Supervisor John K. Flynn. “I think we heard people asking for the information, the (Ventura County) Taxpayers Assn., perhaps some others. We heard requests. We should have acted.

“I guess I thought it was public. If we are due any criticism, it’s for not taking action at that time.”

Supervisor Maria VanderKolk added after the meeting:

“I hope we can move on from here. I’m glad we had the committee. This has been an issue of what is appropriate pay for supervisors. I feel good about it.”

According to the panel proposal adopted Tuesday, the board’s salaries will be set at 65% of the pay of Superior Court judges, who receive $99,297 a year. While supervisors now can only receive raises when the state increases judicial salaries, county raises cannot exceed 5% annually, the board agreed.

Although their base pay was increased, the higher salaries do not make up for the elimination of all perks. Starting next year, the elected officials will suffer cuts in compensation ranging from $1,500 to $9,707 each. The total payroll reduction will be about $20,000 annually.

“This takes some of the subjective methodology in setting the salaries out of your hands,” panel spokesman Roger Myers told the board.

Under the new county pay plan, the salary and remaining benefits for supervisors next year would range from about $74,000 for Supervisor Vicky Howard to $87,000 for Kildee. The new pay plan will go into effect Feb. 21.

Supervisors Flynn, Susan Lacey and Kildee will receive total compensation reductions ranging from $3,399 to $9,707. However, Howard will get a pay increase of $4,496, and VanderKolk will get a raise of $1,563.

“I appreciate that you have given us a way to put ourselves back on equal footing,” Kildee told the panel. “The difference now in the pay has only to do with the way that we deal with our own retirement.”

The supervisors also will no longer receive longevity, education and vacation pay. Textbook and tuition reimbursements and reimbursements for professional license fees were also cut. In addition, the supervisors agreed that the county should no longer pick up their portion of social security and Medicare--perks that amounted to about $4,365 annually for each board member. Supervisors also cannot collect pay for participating in extra panels and commissions--a perk that cost about $11,000 last year.

Lacey said she was glad that the supervisors resolved the pay issue.

“I would do this job for nothing,” Lacey said. “I don’t think you should. I think it is a very, very important job. But the money means nothing to me.”

The board’s action also sets the total compensation of the county’s six other elected officials. It will range from $106,000 for Clerk-Recorder Richard D. Dean to $142,000 for incoming Sheriff Larry Carpenter. Those changes go into effect Jan. 3.

Car allowances for all elected officials and 13 appointed officials were cut from $6,000 to $4,500 annually, making the stipends more in line with car allowances in other counties.

Some changes have already taken place in the county’s compensation system.

In the wake of public criticism after The Times’ disclosure of the perks in September, the supervisors voted to reduce the controversial “in-lieu-of vacation pay” by more than 50%--cutting the compensation packages for the leading officials by more than a total of $113,000.

The board then decided to form the panel to see if further reform was needed. The panel included a judge, an attorney, two bank presidents, a hospital administrator, two businessmen, the president of the Ventura County Economic Development Assn. and the president of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn.

“Our objective was to fix a system that has gotten too cumbersome,” said panelist Stacy Roscoe, president of the economic group.

But one critic who spoke out at the meeting Tuesday said the board should have simply cut the perks without increasing pay.

“This is exactly the way they planned it,” said Don Hollingsworth, a member of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn. “Now they think everyone will forget about it and everything will be fine. But I’m going to keep pressing them.”

However, Ventura County Taxpayers Assn. Executive Director Jere Robings, often a critic of the county on salary matters, said he supported Tuesday’s action.

“I think we accomplished what we set out to accomplish,” Robings said. “We eliminated the perks and set it all into salary. From the standpoint of the taxpayers association, we have put a final wrap on this decision.”

County Treasurer-Tax Collector Hal Pittman, who will receive a cut in total income of about $10,000 from his 1991 earnings, added: “I’m hopeful people will take this as a positive step by the Board of Supervisors in trying to simplify the process--as well as recognizing something as being an equitable range of pay.”

County Compensation Packages Starting Next Year

Current New Base Base Salary Salary Supervisor $50,232 $64,543 John K. Flynn Supervisor $50,232 $64,543 Vicky Howard Supervisor $50,232 $64,543 Maggie Kildee Supervisor $50,232 $64,543 Susan Lacey Supervisor $50,232 $64,543 Maria VanderKolk Incoming Sheriff $98,982 $122,621 Larry Carpenter District Attorney $106,600 $121,865 Michael D. Bradbury Treasurer-Tax Collector $79,274 $95,594 Hal Pittman Clerk-Recorder $79,274 $94,345 Richard D. Dean Incoming Auditor $91,910 $110,486 -Controller Thomas O. Mahon Assessor $87,490 $102,781 Jerry Sanford

Current* 1991 Total Total Compensation Compensation Supervisor $91,490 $84,701 John K. Flynn Supervisor $64,792 $69,378 Vicky Howard Supervisor $97,860 $90,432 Maggie Kildee Supervisor $85,769 $78,912 Susan Lacey Supervisor $73,766 $78,748 Maria VanderKolk Incoming Sheriff N/A** $143,202 Larry Carpenter District Attorney $154,989 $140,673 Michael D. Bradbury Treasurer-Tax Collector $120,010 $111,680 Hal Pittman Clerk-Recorder $118,771 $107,959 Richard D. Dean Incoming Auditor N/A** $126,303 -Controller Thomas O. Mahon Assessor $128,623 $117,141 Jerry Sanford

New Total Compensation Difference Supervisor $74,994 $9,707- John K. Flynn Supervisor $73,874 $4,496+ Vicky Howard Supervisor $86,561 $3,871- Maggie Kildee Supervisor $75,513 $3,399- Susan Lacey Supervisor $80,311 $1,563+ Maria VanderKolk Incoming Sheriff $141,701 $1,501- Larry Carpenter District Attorney $139,173 $1,500- Michael D. Bradbury Treasurer-Tax Collector $110,180 $1,500- Hal Pittman Clerk-Recorder $106,458 $1,501- Richard D. Dean Incoming Auditor $124,803 $1,500- -Controller Thomas O. Mahon Assessor $115,641 $1,500- Jerry Sanford

* As adopted by the Board of Supervisors on Sept. 15

** In 1991, Mahon was serving as the county’s assistant auditor and Carpenter was serving as under sheriff.

Perks Chronology

Sept. 26, 1989--The Board of Supervisors quietly adopted a complex system of financial perks for themselves, the chief administrative officer and other elected officials.

Oct. 31, 1989--At the urging of then-Supervisor James R. Dougherty, the board increased the benefits to allow seven weeks of “in-lieu-of vacation pay” for the elected officials.

Sept. 15, 1992--In the wake of public criticism, the supervisors voted to reduce the in-lieu-of vacation benefit from seven weeks to three weeks.

Sept. 28, 1992--After initially withholding the information, the county agreed to release the exact amount being paid in extra benefits to top officials.

Oct. 15, 1992--The supervisors voted to form a nine-member citizens advisory panel to determine the need of further salary and benefits reforms.

Dec. 11, 1992--The citizens panel concluded its study, urging the county to cut all the major perks for elected officials, while increasing their base salaries.

Dec. 15, 1992--The supervisors voted unanimously to cut perks and raise base pay.