Prosecutors and Defenders to Form Union

Ventura County deputy prosecutors and public defenders announced Thursday that they will form a union, a step they say is necessary to bring their pay into line with other government attorneys across the state.

The decision to unionize approximately 110 lawyers comes less than two weeks after county officials announced that 30 attorneys were mistakenly given pay raises in July and must return the money.

But Kevin G. DeNoce, vice president of the Deputy District Attorneys Assn., said the pay raise is a relatively minor dispute with the county. The real issue, DeNoce said, is that prosecutors’ pay and benefits have steadily decreased since they left the largest county employees’ union six years ago.

Ventura County prosecutors, once the fourth highest-paid deputy district attorneys in California, now are paid 15% to 20% less than prosecutors in comparable counties, DeNoce said.

“The message from the county is clear: If you’re not organized, your salary and benefits will erode,” DeNoce said. “So the only recourse is for us to organize.”

Douglas Daily, president of the Deputy Public Defenders Assn., said the attorneys need to organize for their own protection.

“We’re very vulnerable right now,” Daily said. “Theoretically, (county officials) can change our contract tomorrow without any notice to us. That has really been borne out with this recent brouhaha.”

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County Personnel Director Ronald W. Komers could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The 70 deputy district attorneys who belong to the prosecutors’ association voted Wednesday to organize. DeNoce would not release the vote count, saying only that a majority wants to form a union.

Daily said “an overwhelming majority” of the 40 deputy public defenders chose to organize in a straw vote Wednesday. The vote will be formalized today, Daily said, paving the way for the formation of the Criminal Justice Attorneys Assn. to represent prosecutors and deputy public defenders.

DeNoce said a notice of the attorneys’ intentions will be filed with the county by Tuesday. That will be followed in a couple of months by another vote for attorneys to decide whether they want to represent themselves or join an existing union.

Once that is decided, negotiations will begin for a new contract for the attorneys.

“Frankly, all we’re talking about is parity” with other counties, DeNoce said. “We’re not asking to be treated like we’re special.”

The pay for deputy public defenders and deputy district attorneys is $32,000 to $69,000, depending on years of experience. DeNoce said that is 15% to 20% below what attorneys in similar California counties earn, a claim he expects to be verified when an outside consultant completes a comparison study next month.

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Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, although not affected by his deputies’ decision to organize, said he does not blame them.

“I think they have been treated shabbily by the (chief administrative) office and the personnel department regarding salaries,” Bradbury said. “They have tried to resolve this informally without success, and if this is what it takes, they have my full support.”

Bradbury and Public Defender Kenneth I. Clayman said they do not expect their offices to be adversely affected by the deputies’ action.

“Their work is of the highest quality, and I know it will continue to be whether they are in a union or not,” Clayman said.

DeNoce said that because attorneys willing to work for the government make more money elsewhere, it is difficult for Ventura County to attract and keep quality people.

“It’s in the public interest and welfare to have competent prosecutors,” he said. “If this county is serious about public safety, then it should be willing to pay to attract competent law enforcement officers, including prosecutors.”