ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Steiner Pledges to Cut Pay 10% as Supervisors Scale Back Office Budgets

County Supervisor William G. Steiner on Friday pledged to cut his own $82,500 annual salary by 10%, as he and his board colleagues submitted plans to reduce their office budgets to Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy.

Although county budget officials had asked the supervisors to trim their budgets to $387,000 each, only Board Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez and Supervisor Roger R. Stanton achieved that goal. The three other supervisors said their cuts will bring their budgets below $400,000. Before the Dec. 6 bankruptcy, supervisors’ budgets were each at least $500,000 a year.

Supervisor Jim Silva, who clashed this week with Popejoy over his initial refusal to make additional cuts to his office budget, did not achieve the reduction target, but will cut his budget of $538,863 to $395,000 by, among other things, imposing a 10% salary reduction for his entire staff. The reduction, however, will not affect Silva’s salary, an aide said.

“There’s no question that Mr. Popejoy got the attention of (county supervisors) and we have responded accordingly,” Steiner said during an interview. “The department heads better do the same thing or Mr. Popejoy will do it for them.”

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In December, Vasquez and Stanton vowed to trim their own salaries and benefits by 5%. Steiner later joined them in that pledge.

Steiner is offering to take the largest pay cut of any supervisor. New board members Silva and Marian Bergeson have not offered to reduce their salaries, although neither accepts a county car.

Steiner stirred some controversy when he wrote a check to his favorite charity to fulfill his initial 5% salary reduction pledge. This time, he said, he will be writing a check to the county. The pay cut will become effective July 1.

Steiner’s income dropped when he left his position as the director of the Orangewood Home for abused children to join the Board of Supervisors in 1993.

“No one is immune,” Steiner said. “I’m not claiming poverty. But I’m 58 years old and I have five children, two who are still in college. But at least I still have a job.”

Other cuts in Steiner’s office will reduce his annual budget from $492,200 to $397,000. The cuts will be achieved by the layoff of Steiner’s executive assistant, Jean Batson, as of July 1. She will be replaced with a clerical worker. Additional reductions include $3,000 in service and supplies and the elimination of the equipment budget for a $10,000 savings.

Steiner said he is exploring the possibility of using leftover campaign funds to pay office costs. The supervisor said that since he was appointed to replace resigned Supervisor Don R. Roth, he has trimmed his office budget from $668,000 to less than $400,000.

Silva could not be reached for comment Friday, but a memo from his office stated that his cuts include a $27,839 reduction in services and supplies and the elimination of the office’s equipment account, which will save $2,500.

Stanton’s office announced a 29.5% budget reduction, from $549,000 to $387,000. He had already laid off an executive assistant and reduced a full-time position to part-time. This round of reductions will include a $140,714 reduction in salaries and employee benefits, a $17,286 reduction in services and supplies and a $4,000 reduction in equipment purchases.

Bergeson will reduce her $452,180 budget to $397,000 by eliminating one full-time executive assistant and trimming the equipment budget by $2,500.

The cuts will have a dramatic impact on her office, she said.

“It will be harder to advance ideas and programs with a smaller staff,” she said. “It means we’ll have to work a lot harder and a lot faster. We hope there is going to be understanding, but it is going to hamper us in responding to constituent calls.”

Vasquez, who has traditionally kept lean budgets, said the reductions hit his office particularly hard because of the large population it serves, and because the number of unincorporated areas in his 3rd District leads many citizens to treat his office like a city hall.

Vasquez said he is cutting his $549,000 budget this year by 29.5% to achieve the budget goal of $387,000. Reductions will include $129,146 in salaries and benefits, $15,944 in services and supplies and $5,000 in equipment costs.