Salaries of Santa Barbara County officials won’t be going up any time soon, following a decisive decision from the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors.
On May 19, the board voted 4-1, with 4th District Supervisor Joni Gray dissenting, to deny salary increases for the recently appointed retirement system CEO. Also, the board voted 3-1, with Gray dissenting and 5th District Supervisor Joe Centeno abstaining, to knock down a pay increase for the district attorney.
The Santa Barbara County Employees’ Retirement System (SBCERS) Board of Retirement offered newly hired CEO Vincent Brown an annual salary of $204,000—approximately $10,000 more than the maximum department head salary in the county.
The board, however, balked at the increase, with 1st District Supervisor Salud Carbajal urging the retirement board “to take a look at our economy.”
However, Gray, who represents the Board of Supervisors on the retirement board, remained in favor of the increase.
In a recent interview with the Sun, Gray said she wanted to put her position on the salary increases “in perspective.”
The retirement system CEO oversees the county’s $1.3 billion pension fund for its employees. That fund, Gray said, has decreased by about $700 million over the last year or so because of the flagging economy.
“That’s the market,” Gray explained. “We need someone with much more experience than we have now to oversee this.”
She called the pay increase a “totally logical situation” because funding for SBCERS administration is separate from the county’s general fund. And there is also a 10 percent cap on how much money can go toward administrative salaries.
“It would be money spent for a wiser choice,” Gray said, pointing to Brown’s breadth of experience.
He formerly worked with a private firm that provided services to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).
A similar proposal to increase the district attorney’s salary to $210,765 as “adequate compensation” was knocked down as well, despite findings in the county staff report that said District Attorney Christie Stanley makes less than other department heads. The $179,899 salary also ranks lowest when compared to other counties, the report said.
Ultimately, the board chose not to accept either proposal.
“I don’t think anyone was willing to vote for salary increases … Normally I’m the first one to go up against salary increases,” she said, but in these circumstances, it seemed like the right thing to do.
“It took a long time to find a CEO for the retirement system,” Gray said, adding that she hopes the board’s decision won’t hinder Brown’s transition as head of the department.
As of press time, members of the retirement board were not available for comment.
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 4, 2009.