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San Luis Obispo County Counsel seeks four-year contract, nearly $2 million

September 6, 2024

San Luis Obispo County Counsel Rita Neal

By KAREN VELIE

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors is slated on Tuesday to approve a new four-year contract with County Counsel Rita Neal at a cost of nearly $2 million, according to the consent agenda.

If approved by the board, Neal’s new contact will run from Sept. 30, 2024 through Sept. 29, 2028. The staff report, however, lists the ending date as Sept. 29, 2029, which would be a five year extension.

As head of the County Counsel’s Office, Neal oversees a staff equivalent to 20.5 full-time employees. The office provides legal advice to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors and 26 county departments.

First appointed county counsel in 2012, in 2013 Neal received $258,541 in salary and benefits, a number that nearly doubled in 10 years amid large pay increases.

In 2020, the SLO County Board of Supervisors voted to give Neal a 20% pay hike that provided her a compensation package of $374,579 a year. Then in 2022, the board gave Neal a 15.56% increase in pay. Neal is currently receiving $479,006 in salary and benefits.

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15 Comments
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Are you looking for a husband ? I’m single . 6 foot 2, 6 pack , 6 figure income . 6″.


5

What makes her job so special she can receive a half a million dollars salary per year on our tax paying dollars. Well?


28

Heysus Crisco! Rita Neal should be paying SLO County $500K/year in perpetuity for the rot she has fostered in this county, for the cover she has given Adam Hill, and especially Bruce Gibson, along with the lessor remoras. Keeping her on the payroll is an absurdity. Paying her more is gut-churning. Also, it should be examined for what it it is: A payoff to remain silent.


1

There are many local attorneys more qualified and willing to work for less but that is irrelevant because hiring at the County is not now and never has been based upon qualifications.


34

The county should let the current contract expire and allow for an open job interview for any attorneys interested and find out what the average desired salary is during the process. Before giving anybody anymore raises the focus should be on helping the school districts give better incentives to bus drivers so they can hire more and not require the parents to take their kids to school and pick them up everyday. I know in paso the traffic is just awful because of this issue. If they can’t hire enough bus drivers then the money used for the bus drivers salary should be reimbursed to the parents and not used for over bloated government salaries.


36

They will never do this because Neal knows where all the skeletons are buried, even though she helped bury many of them, so the people responsible for firing her have to much to lose if she has reason to turn them in, so rhey just continue to give her outrageous raises, and allow her to avoid work by often using outside consultants.


27

Of course they won’t. I’m sure she has some leverage over some of them ljke Ortiz- Legg and her husband and the whole affordable housing scam they got house with. At the same time she’s been on the job for over a decade which means she probably has more dirt on the whole adam hill situation as well. The corruption happened under her watch as legal counsel should of been fired when all that came out.


26

I would like some of our local attorneys to weigh in on this. I have my opinion but it is just that, and not based on researched facts, but this does seem like an excessive contract dollar amount.


37

How can any sane governing body justify paying a county level department head a salary in excess of what we pay the president of the United States.


57

Ridiculous !!! She has proven she’s no genius. How could she possibly be worth that much money. No way she could make that kind of money in the private sector.


47

She makes plenty, but they’ll give her more and more since it’s the taxpayer taking it in the stern.


46

Tax and fee increase on the way to pay for these outrageous compensations


45

Likely a combination of tax/fee increases with reduced service. Government…less with more.


46
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