Board Considers a $51,000 Hike for D.A. : Politics: Supervisors may raise district attorney’s salary to $185,000 after election. It would be largest increase ever for elected county official.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider giving the district attorney a $51,500 raise, which appears to be the largest pay hike ever awarded an elected Los Angeles County official.

County Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen told the board in a memo that the top prosecutor’s salary has lagged behind those of other elected officials, notably the county assessor. In fact, 15 employees in the district attorney’s office make more than the district attorney, with Chief Deputy Robert Heflin earning $151,000 annually.

The action set for Tuesday’s board meeting would increase the D.A.’s salary to the assessor’s $185,000-a-year level after the March election, in which two challengers so far have announced plans to try to unseat incumbent Gil Garcetti.

Garcetti earns $133,500 annually, less than the county public defender, county counsel and many other department heads. For years, the Los Angeles district attorney’s salary has lagged behind other county elected officials.

The D.A. has not received more than annual cost-of-living increases since 1984, according to county officials. Beginning then, the Republican-dominated board gave no raises to Garcetti’s predecessor, Democrat Ira Reiner, while it boosted the pay of the assessor and sheriff, who is believed to be the highest-paid elected official in the nation.

The board is now majority Democrat, the same party as Garcetti, though supervisors of both parties said they support the boost.

Although the district attorney has struggled for parity with other county officials, compared to salaries elsewhere, he fares relatively well. The nation’s top law enforcement officer, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, makes $151,800.

The 39% raise would bring the district attorney’s salary above that of the vice president of the United States, who makes $175,400 annually, and prosecutors in some major cities.

Supervisor Gloria Molina “sees it as a parity issue,” said spokesman Miguel Santana.

John Wallace, a spokesman for Republican Supervisor Don Knabe, gave similar reasons for his boss’ support of the raise.

But Supervisor Mike Antonovich, a Republican and frequent Garcetti critic, said he will ask for a full debate of the increase at Tuesday’s meeting. “While there needs to be an adjustment” to bring the district attorney’s pay in line with other county heads, he said, “this is not appropriate.”

Garcetti spokeswoman Victoria Pipkin said the D.A. has not spoken to supervisors about the raise.

A 1993 county study found that one of every 89 county employees earned more than $100,000, compared to one of every 224 Los Angeles city workers and one of 1,130 state employees. A Times study at the end of 1995, as the county tottered at the brink of bankruptcy, found that 1,225 of the county’s 85,000 workers belonged to the $100,000 club.

The county’s top administrator, Janssen, makes $198,000--nearly as much as President Clinton. The county’s fire chief earns $175,000 annually and its health director $227,000.

County officials have long defended the high salaries, saying county leaders make far less than counterparts in the private sector. Some department heads, such as top-paid health Director Mark Finucane, run vast bureaucracies with billion-dollar budgets.

In 1996, supervisors won passage of a ballot measure to rein in the salaries of the sheriff and the county assessor, who had been receiving automatic 5% pay increases annually while the district attorney got only cost-of-living hikes. Now all elected officials automatically receive annual cost of living increases of up to 4%.

Supervisors last year moved to trim the salaries of the sheriff and assessor, shaving $9,000 off the assessor’s $193,000 salary and $38,000 off the sheriff’s $245,000 pay package.

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Salary Comparison

Below are salaries of some of Los Angeles County’s elected officials, including the proposed new salary for district attorney, as well as the salaries for other notable elected and appointed positions.

Los Angeles County sheriff: $209,898

Los Angeles County assessor: $185,378

Los Angeles County district attorney (current): $133,500

Los Angeles County district attorney (proposed): $185,378

Orange County district attorney: $136,000

San Diego County district attorney: $149,738

New York City district attorney (5 posts): $125,000

Cook County state’s attorney (Chicago): $150,155

U.S. attorney general: $151,800

Sources: Los Angeles County chief administrative office; Orange County, San Diego, New York City and Chicago government agencies; federal agencies