SLO County Board of Supervisors vote for 26% pay raise

May 17, 2023

By KAREN VELIE

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 on Tuesday to give themselves a 26% increase in pay, with John Peschong and Debbie Arnold dissenting.

Supervisors Bruce Gibson, Dawn Ortiz-Legg and Jimmy Paulding voted in favor of raising the base salary from $90,417 to $114,067 over two years. They argued that the raises were needed to attract good candidates in the future.

In typical fashion, county staff conducted a study of where the board of supervisors ranks in comparison to a select group of counties. With a monthly base salary of $7,534, SLO County was ranked slightly below the $8,064 monthly base salary Santa Barbara County supervisors receive. After the approved raise, SLO County’s maximum base salary will rise to $9,500 a month.

During public comment, about a dozen residents asked the supervisors not to take the raises because of the downturn in the economy and issues with the county operating in a deficit. Supervisor Ortiz-Legg said people encouraged her to vote for the raise.

Supervisor Peschong, who has not taken a raise since he was elected, said that people in North County had asked him to vote against the pay increase.

After multiple public speakers chastised Supervisor Paulding for running as a fiscal conservative and then changing his views after he was elected, Paulding said he would vote for the raises but would not take the increase in pay at this time.