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Placer County supervisors have delayed a decision on whether to ask county voters to give them hefty salary boosts. The supervisors on Tuesday directed the staff of the charter review committee to obtain more precise information on the matter and report on it at a March meeting. The charter review committee’s recommendation that the board ask the voters to approve a salary of about $98,000 per year (including benefits) was presented by Wayne Nader, the committee chairman. The supervisors’ annual compensation has been set at $30,000 since the passage of Measure A, a charter amendment, in 1992. Nader said the $30,000 salary of 1992 is worth about $15,200 in today’s dollars. Nader also emphasized the committee’s conclusion that being a supervisor in Placer County is a full time job — and then some. But at $30,000 a year, he said a Placer supervisor probably would have to be retired, be independently wealthy or have a job with flexible hours. District 5 Supervisor Bruce Kranz, a state retiree, suggested that District 4’s Kirk Uhler, who at 40 is the board’s youngest member by far, is the only current supervisor who falls into the “flexible hours” category. “I don’t know how you do it,” Kranz told Uhler.
Dan Sokol, an official of the League of Placer County Taxpayers,
suggested that the board propose a $45,000 a year wage for
consideration by the voters. The League initiated and led the Yes on Measure A campaign in 1992
after that era’s supervisors kept giving themselves raises. They were
being paid about $78,000 a year (plus benefits) when the voters passed
Measure A. Other actions by the supervisors this week included: — Ratification of the declaration of local emergency made by CEO Tom
Miller on January 6 in the wake of destructive storms. Emergency
Services Chief Rui Cunha said that as a result of the declaration the
governor declared Placer a state disaster area, making the county
eligible to request and receive state disaster assistance funds. Cunha
added that the storm damage is still being assessed. — Authorized tax-exempt lease financing for CALSTAR, the shock trauma
air rescue organization, to obtain four new helicopters for $20
million. The financing is to be done through the ABAG Finance Authority
for Non-Profit Corporations of which Placer, Yuba and Sacramento
counties and several cities are members. Assistant CEO Mike Boyle said
the financing is structured to ensure that there are no fiscal
liabilities to the county. — Commended Sheriff’s Deputies Craig Thomas and Michael Sneed on the occasion of their retirements. — Authorized a $100,000 contract with the Hausrath Economics Group to
provide economic consulting services for numerous land
development-related issues. — Authorized release of $75,000 in park dedication fees to the Auburn
Recreation District for improvements to the Meadow Vista swimming pool.
The ARD also was authorized to use $112,000 in such funds for
additional parking facilities at Railhead Park in Auburn and $21,975
for repairs to the roof of the gymnasium at Regional Park. — Allowed the sheriff’s department to use $25,000 in homeland security grant funds to purchase a surveillance camera system. — Approved a $1,500 general fund revenue sharing appropriation for the
Lincoln Arts and Culture Foundation’s 21st annual Feats of Clay event.
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