MADERA COUNTY — The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously yesterday not to accept the pay increase recommended by staff, that would put them more in line with the salaries of supervisors in neighboring counties.
District 5 Supervisor Tom Wheeler, who has supported the increase in the past, made the motion to deny the ordinance, stating that he had given it a lot of thought.
“Now is not the time,” Wheeler told SNO after yesterday’s meeting. “Getting the public safety tax passed is more important. That’s what really matters to me right now, and what’s best for the people I serve.”
The proposal was to raise the pay for supervisors with six years of service or more from 42 percent of Superior Court judge’s salaries to 52.5 percent. Board members with less than six years service would have had their pay increase from 40 percent to 50 percent of judge’s salaries.
Wheeler had considered proposing only a three percent increase, but decided against it after much consideration. He still feels that the work the Board does deserves a higher level of compensation, but will focus on getting the public safety tax passed in March 2017.
Several of the Board members have expressed disappointment over the years that the job they do to save the County money is not recognized by many members of the public.
“We have over 1,100 employees, about 25 departments, and we have to know what’s going on in every one of those departments so we can make informed decisions,” says Wheeler, who has pointed out in the past that this is a full time job, and then some.
In January 2015, the Board received an increase for the first time since 2007, accepting a cost of living increase after voting to forgo it for several years. During that meeting, District Supervisor David Rogers explained just how much time is invested in the work, aside from just the business at board meetings.
“We sit on over 30 commissions each,” said Chairman Rogers during that 2015 meeting. “People need to understand. I don’t spend 20, 30, even 40 hours a week; I serve 7 days a week, and that usually ends up being 60 to 80 hours. The amount of knowledge and research it takes to make informed decisions is arduous. We serve in a quasi-judicial role for every issue that comes before us. We have to understand planning procedures and laws, the workings of every single department, and educate ourselves on a myriad of subjects. That’s not a complaint. We love to serve; that’s why we do this job.”
In March 2015, the issue of a raise was brought back before the Board, and they voted to increase the pay of any supervisor on the job for six years or more from 40 percent to 42 percent of Superior Court judge’s salaries. Those with less than six years did not receive an increased percentage.
During the discussion before yesterday’s vote, all the supervisors agreed that this was not the time to consider an increase, and voted unanimously to reject the proposal.
