Supervisors Give Selves, Top Execs a 6% Pay Raise

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to give itself and the county’s top executives a 6% pay raise.

Though that would be the second compensation boost in a year, officials pointed out that salaries were frozen in the wake of the county’s 1994 bankruptcy. So the earlier increase was the first in nearly four years for all of the county’s top management personnel.

Supervisor William G. Steiner, who argued for the increase, said it would ensure that the county remains competitive in recruiting executives, especially to fill vacant jobs at John Wayne Airport and in county agencies responsible for health care, housing and community development.

“I think it needs to be recognized there is a watershed of change going on in the county,” Steiner said. “Trying to replace these folks is becoming very competitive.”

He cited a compensation package from neighboring San Bernardino County that offers a 401(k) employer match of up to 6%, compared to the 3% approved by the board Tuesday for department heads in Orange County.

The higher compensation, which requires a second vote in January, would follow the increases this year of 12% for the supervisors and 14% for County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier.

The five supervisors are paid $86,985 a year. Effective July 2, the amount would rise to $92,206. The difference would be deferred compensation paid into the supervisors’ retirement accounts.

All elected officials and the county’s executive officer would get similar increases.

Only Supervisor Todd Spitzer voted against the raises, arguing that they would be too soon after the midyear increase approved in June.

“With respect to recent raises for elected officials,” Spitzer said, “I cannot support this.”

But the rest of the board--supervisors Tom Wilson, Charles V. Smith, Chairman Jim Silva and Steiner--disagreed and approved the plan.

In June, by contrast, the board had been unanimous in approving a 6.5% pay increase over the next two years for about 14,000 of the county’s 16,000 employees.

Supervisors at that time pointed out that county workers had not received pay increases since 1994 and cited the need to remain competitive with other counties.

Jan Walden, director of the county Human Resources Department, told the board that a salary and benefit analysis earlier this year found that Orange County has not kept pace with the job market during the past several years.

Despite the midyear pay raises, which “helped to bridge the gap,” Walden said that more salary adjustments may be necessary to “attract replacements for key department head vacancies.”