Board to Vote on a 9.1% Raise for Sheriff Gates

The Board of Supervisors will decide next week whether to grant Sheriff Brad Gates a 9.1% raise that would boost his base salary to $126,200 a year.

Board Chairman Roger R. Stanton proposed the salary increase, which he described as long overdue, given the sheriff’s “considerable contributions to the County of Orange and as a key member of the county’s management team.”

Gates’ salary is now $115,000--several thousand dollars less than the base pay earned by Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, Health Care Agency Director Tom Uram and four other county executives.

But because Gates is entitled to more expensive law enforcement retirement benefits and insurance, his total compensation is the highest in the county, $164,800, according to a 1995 survey.

The raise would be Gates’ first in two years and comes six months after the county emerged from a grueling bankruptcy that forced cuts in social services and the laying off of 580 workers. Additional employees could lose their jobs under a government reorganization plan that won board approval earlier this month.

Some activists and employees questioned the fairness of granting hefty executive raises when the county’s finances remain so tight.

“The county is overloaded with bankruptcy debt, and they want to give a raise to an elected politician,” said Bob Ault, a Westminster community activist and leader of the Committees of Correspondence, a government watchdog group. “Gates doesn’t need a raise.”

But supporters point out that Gates’ proposed salary would only be on a par with those of the police chiefs of several large Orange County cities, even though the sheriff oversees a much larger organization that provides law enforcement services to more than a dozen communities across the county.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block is paid $212,000 a year. Huntington Beach Police Chief Ronald E. Lowenberg was paid $155,000 in total compensation last year, while Costa Mesa Police Chief David L. Snowden was paid $148,000.

A 1995 salary survey conducted by The Times found that some police officers actually earn more than either Gates or their chiefs, thanks to large overtime payments.

“Whether you agree or disagree with Brad Gates, I believe he needs a competitive salary,” said Supervisor William G. Steiner, who supports the proposal. “It’s a matter of fairness.”

Steiner said Gates provided “crucial leadership” in the months following the county bankruptcy and that his department has taken on additional duties in recent years, including responsibility for a new 800 megahertz radio communications system.

“The sheriff should clearly be earning a [base] salary at least equal to the D.A. and county counsel,” he added. Capizzi’s base pay is about $125,600.

In a memo, Stanton said that Gates’ “direction and vision” has made the Sheriff’s Department “one of the most highly respected law enforcement agencies in the state, and perhaps in the country.” He added that Gates’ salary is now “significantly below market.”

Gates received a 4% raise in August 1994 and a 1% raise in 1991. After the county declared bankruptcy in December 1994, Stanton, Steiner and two other elected officials took a temporary 5% pay cut as a symbolic gesture. But Gates, along with Capizzi and some other county executives, declined to slash their pay.

During the 18-month financial crisis, the county withheld raises that had been promised to employees and managers shortly before the bankruptcy. When the county finally emerged from bankruptcy in June, workers received a 2.5% salary increase along with retroactive pay, while managers received merit pay increases.

Most managers received increases in the 5% range, but a few got raises of up to 14% that officials said brought their pay in line with others in their profession. For example, one assistant district attorney’s salary jumped from $102,000 to $116,000.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider the Gates raise proposal on Tuesday. Carole Walters, president of the Orange Taxpayers Assn., said she opposes the raise but expects it to pass.

“He holds a lot of power in this county,” Walters said.