Bid to Eliminate Stipends for Supervisors Defeated

An effort to strip county officials of extra pay for serving on committees was thwarted at the last minute Tuesday when Ventura County Supervisor John Flynn included an amendment to the policy.

On Flynn’s recommendation, the board voted 3 to 2 to exempt payment supervisors receive for sitting on two specific committees--the county’s tax appeals panel and its retirement board.

Flynn has sat on the tax appeals panel for 25 years and earns $400 a month to attend weekly meetings. Board Chairman Frank Schillo collects $200 a month for sitting on the retirement board, which meets twice a month. He and Supervisor Judy Mikels supported Flynn’s amendment.

Flynn told his colleagues he was prepared to step down from the assessment panel to give others a chance to serve. During a break in the board meeting, however, he was vague about when he might resign.

“There is a process that has to be followed,” he said.

Eliminating Pay an ‘Insult,’ Supervisor Says

Flynn argued that supervisors should be able to accept payment for the panels because they involve a lot of work and the payments aren’t a big drain on the county’s general fund.

It is an “insult” to him and Schillo, Flynn said, to take that compensation away. Mikels had previously voted to strip all extra pay, but on Tuesday said she was persuaded by Flynn’s comments.

“I do believe those two boards are extra work and not part of the everyday job of supervisor,” Mikels said.

Supervisor Steve Bennett, who led the effort to ban the added compensation, said other panels require an equal amount of labor but do not offer pay. The five board members sit on at least 46 panels and only a handful offer stipends, Bennett said.

“We move down a pretty slippery slope when we say these are two worthy exemptions,” he said.

Bennett first brought attention to the issue in July, when he questioned a $50-a-month stipend that Schillo receives for sitting on the county’s transportation board. In September, he moved to ban all stipends.

The board voted 4 to 1 last week, with Flynn dissenting, to outlaw the payments. Tuesday’s surprise amendment came during a second reading of the Bennett ordinance, usually a formality that involves no changes.

Supervisors earn $85,000 a year and the public does not expect them to receive extra pay for their duties on boards, Bennett has said. On Tuesday, he said he still considers taking payments “double-dipping.”

Mixed Reaction From Watchdogs

Mikels questioned whether the public is concerned about the issue. She said no one has called her office to complain about the practice. Bennett said he has heard from several people who disapprove of extra compensation.

Don Facciano, executive director of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn., said his group has no quarrel with Flynn’s amendment. It should be up to each supervisor to decide whether to accept stipends, Facciano said.

“All they have to do is say no,” he said. “The amounts are small.”

But Jere Robings, a longtime taxpayer advocate, disagreed.

“It’s not the amount of money, it’s the principle,” he said. “They know what the job entails.”