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SLO County supervisors seeking a 26% raise in pay

May 4, 2023

By KAREN VELIE

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 on Tuesday to bring back a discussion about raising their own salaries by 26%, with supervisors Debbie Arnold and John Peschong dissenting.

Supervisors Arnold and Peschong had both pledged not to vote to raise their salaries while in office, a promise they have upheld. Arnold argued against raising salaries at this time because of financial shortfalls.

“We have a budget gap. We have significant damage to out roads.” Arnold said. “I just don’t think this is the time for the supervisors to be raising  our salaries.”

In response to Arnold, Supervisor Bruce Gibson said, “It is never a good time to discuss raising our salaries, but HR brought it forward so we should discuss it.”

Supervisors Gibson, Dawn Ortiz Legg and Jimmy Paulding then voted in favor of moving forward with a plan to raise their salaries at an upcoming meeting.

Less then three months ago, Paulding voiced concerns that his first vote as a supervisor would be to raise his own salary, and voted against a raise noting he needed to build trust with his constituents. During the 2022 election, Paulding was criticized after he claimed he had voted twice against raising his salary while on the Arroyo Grande City Council.

On Dec. 10, 2019, Paulding voted to increase his pay as a council member by 60%, from $405 a month to $648 a month, after voting against the raise a month earlier.

Proposed Board of Supervisor salary increase schedule:

  • Effective July 23, 2023: increase the annual salary from $90,417.60 to $97,697.60
  • Effective June 23, 2024: increase the annual salary from $97,697.60 to $105,560.00
  • Effective June 22, 2025: increase the annual salary from $105,560.00 to $114,067.20
  • Subsequent to June 22, 2025, members of the Board of Supervisors shall receive annual increases as necessary to remain at fifty percent of the bottom of the salary range of the California Superior Court Judges.

“Subsequent to June 22, 2025, members of the Board of Supervisors shall receive annual increases as necessary to remain at fifty percent of the bottom of the salary range of the California Superior Court judges,” according to the staff report. “The increases will be approved by the Board of Supervisors annually on consent agenda in the same fiscal year the salary increase is applied to the superior court judges.”

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This must be why they charge $100k for Road Improvement Fee’s for small projects or any of the other frivolous and over regulated requirements made to build here. Why does is seem that Arnold and Peschong are the only two looking out for the tax payer and not themselves? I’d love to vote for my own raise unless it was at the tax payers expense. The people should decide.


29

Same old Political football they tell you we feel your pain then give themselves a raise to take their pain away but still leaving yours in place. If their wages were figured on what they actually did they would be getting minimum wage at best then they would really feel your pain


33

I think I read somewhere that part of the reason is that unless the supervisors rates increase, they’ll be making less than some of their subordinates which I guess is an ok reason – it’s important that our leaders and their staff are able to live comfortably, so they can do the job and not feel the need to take bribes, but also not live exorbitantly… Obviously.


Why not peg the salary to 150% median county income. When the people ge richer, so do they.


-58

Or, and this is a really revolutionary thought, pay the union hostages…I mean…subordinates less, so the supervisors won’t need a raise to “keep up with the Jones’s”.


Gosh, we could do that with all city and county employees, and save millions and millions in tax dollars! Why, we could save enough, to cut citizen taxes substantially, or put that money into fixing roads and other infrastructure that we seem to never have enough tax money for!


Yes, I know. It’s not the revolution style you support…


13

As usual, I ask that you spend 5 minutes, look at the County’s publicly available compensation budget and employee count. At tell me who it is that we should cut? Police officers? Clinicians? Engineers? Homeless services? After that I encourage you to consider what you would do if suddenly your paycheck was cut by 30% – could you afford to live in SLO? Would you move to a different company or to a different county where you’re not making penuts? Who is going to build the roads when you’ve fired half the government and made the rest quit?


-13

AUFKM


19

Well to be fair – they probably took a pretty significant financial hit when Helios went to jail.


93

Did anyone really think this wasn’t going to pass when it first came around? Most know Pauldings original comment was just virtue signaling.


71

When comparing a judge who makes 100% of the decision to a board member who only make 20% of the decision, the pay scale is simple. A great idea to compare jobs for dollars. How do we get back the over paid monies?


39

I’m going to have to vote against this one. Seems to me like these clowns are pretty much incompetent.


86

So who else in this forum is expecting a $14,000 raise in salary in the next two years? We are looking at rampant bank failures, government employee pensions that we cannot cover, and an impending recession. What about these Supervisors warrants a $14,000 pay raise in the next two years? They have already decided they are not going to improve roads, so what are they doing that will actually improve your everyday life that warrants a $14,000 raise?? With rampant bank failures, out-of-control inflation, and an impending recession, what have these folks done that merits a $14,000 a year raise in YOUR mind?? Democrats? Here’s your chance to defend your candidates……..


119

“Democrats? Here’s your chance to defend your candidates……..”




That sound you’re hearing is crickets.


50

Really, doom and gloom? I think you are wrong. Wages are up across the board—5.1% year over year.


https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/business/wage-inflation-march.html#:~:text=Wages%20and%20salaries%20for%20private,expectations%20of%20a%20modest%20slowdown.


Moreover, job growth remains strong. While inflation has not receded, it has not grown either. The prospects of a recession continue to seem remote. The Fed has done a good job moderating things.


BUT, I totally agree, this pay raise is ABSURD. Get a clue Mr. Paulding! VOTE NO, or you will have ZERO credibility going forward. We already know Gibson is shameless, and Ortiz will do whatever the other two do.


Again, Mr. Paulding, VOTE NO on this ridiculous pay raise. Unless you can show me that you work far more hours than your highest paid subordinate, you must vote no.


I await such proof. And even then, I would advise you to VOTE NO.


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