Salaries of County Non-Safety Workers

I have been employed by the county of Ventura for the past 13 years as a “non-safety” worker, although I do code enforcement. Ever since the early ’90 recession when the state raided the property tax monies from county coffers, “non-safety” employees have watched their quality of life erode.

From 1992 through 1997, our salaries were frozen and we received no cost-of-living raises, while we stood by and watched our Board of Supervisors approve whopping raises for the sheriff, D.A., probation and public defender offices. From 1998 through 2000, “non-safety” workers were given an average of 1.5% cost-of-living raises.

Like many workers everywhere, we were pressured into signing up with HMOs because the point-of-service plan that’s been offered to us is so expensive that most workers can’t afford to pay for it.

Ventura County is one of the few counties in California that does not offer cost-of-living increases to its “non-safety” retirees. Yet our retirement board’s investments have been so extremely profitable that the county has not had to pay into the retirement system for the employees for the past three years, saving about $70 million.

The cost of living, particularly housing, has skyrocketed in Ventura County, and those of us who raised our children here and looked forward to them raising their children here are looking elsewhere to live because they can’t afford the cost of housing. A recent survey released by the Ventura County Homeless and Housing Coalition shows there is a significant increase in the number of people with regular monthly incomes who are having to go to homeless shelters because of the skyrocketing housing prices and rental rates.

We have workers at the county of Ventura who are receiving Section 8 housing. It wasn’t so long ago that working for a governmental agency meant you were in the middle-class range. Not so anymore. I know several county workers who are downright poor and have to go to charitable organizations to get food for their families. Something is wrong with this picture.

The county and SEIU Local 998 are in contract negotiations. For nine years, the Board of Supervisors has balanced its budget on the backs of the “non-safety” employees. I’s time for them to do the right thing and at least bring our salaries up to the same level that surrounding counties and cities pay their workers to do the same job. It’s our turn!

Gloria Goldman

Ventura