Edelman Accepts $5,000 Raise That Colleagues Have Given Up

Calling it a question of fairness, retiring Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman said Wednesday he will accept a $5,000 annual pay raise that his colleagues have decided to give up.

Supervisors Gloria Molina, Mike Antonovich, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke and Deane Dana have said that it would send the wrong message to accept more money during a time of budgetary belt-tightening. They have said that they will donate their raises to the county or to charities.

But Joel Bellman, a spokesman for Edelman, said the supervisor feels his decision is justified because he, like his colleagues on the board, has not received a pay increase in three years. Bellman also noted that Edelman, like other county employees, agreed to defer 2% of his pay through the end of the fiscal year June 30.

“He feels that’s an adequate symbol of his willingness to contribute,” Bellman said. “Ed has never been one to engage in empty gestures. He believes in taking substantive actions.”

Edelman, whose fifth term ends Dec. 5, said in November that he will not seek reelection. Bellman said Edelman still would have accepted the raise even if he were running for office.

The pay increase, which took effect Jan. 1, will raise each supervisor’s base salary from $99,297 to $104,262. The increase will boost Edelman’s pension by about $3,000 annually. Bellman noted that the other supervisors may be giving up their pay increases, but their base salaries and therefore their pensions also will increase.

Under a 1953 charter amendment, supervisors’ salaries are tied to those of Superior Court judges, who in turn receive the same raises as state employees.

The four other supervisors say they decided not to simply waive the salary increase because they would still be liable to pay taxes on it. Instead, Molina intends to write a check to the county’s general fund, while Antonovich, Burke and Dana will give the extra money to charities, their aides said.