Supervisors Should Set Own Pay

Ever since a state constitutional amendment was passed in 1970 that moved salary-setting for the county Board of Supervisors out of Sacramento to the local level in many counties, Orange County supervisors have been trying to buck it back to the Legislature, further away from the eye and reach of county residents. The current board finally has succeeded.

In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the supervisors set their pay at 80% of a Superior Court judge’s salary. So, effective in February, board pay will climb $10,200 to $108,000 a year. And it will go up whenever the Legislature raises judges’ pay.

It’s not that we begrudge the board a pay raise. Nor does the public, which recognizes that board salaries, like any others, need periodic adjustments. Raises that previous supervisors gave themselves have more than doubled their annual pay to $97,800 in the last 15 years.

But those pay increases were made in open session and usually after review and recommendation by grand juries or community study groups. Future pay increases, however, will be automatic--aimed at sidestepping any political fallout a proposed raise might produce. That’s not what voters had in mind when they changed the state Constitution and took salary decisions for non-charter counties such as Orange County away from the Legislature and put it in the hands of the local boards. The purpose was to give county taxpayers a voice and allow public opinion to serve as a check against excessive pay raises.

It has worked well. Supervisors’ income has increased steadily, and residents have felt secure knowing that they have the opportunity to weigh in as warranted. That makes for much better local government. Built-in pay raises insulate the board from local accountability.