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What, We Worry? While much of Silicon Valley weathered the sagging economy with pay cuts and layoffs, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors two months ago approved salary adjustments ranging from 3 percent to 13 percent.
County's Bounty
In the midst of one of the most severe cash crises in history, the county handed out raises as usual this past December, to the tune of $1.6 million
By Najeeb Hasan
THOUGH Santa Clara County has already pared more than $100 million from its budget, and though there's talk of perhaps having to cut $74 million more, the Board of Supervisors, with little discussion, approved an across-the-board pay increase for its executive management and board-appointed positions in December. According to county estimates, for the remainder of the fiscal year the pay increases will cost the county about $657,413. Meanwhile, the annualized impact on the county would be more than $1,220,911.
Also, reported the San Jose Mercury News in December after the increases were announced, the county's top three elected officials--District Attorney George Kennedy, Sheriff Laurie Smith and Assessor Larry Stone--were all up for additional bonuses totaling more than $70,000. Kennedy's package was slated to be $29,900, while Smith and Stone had $20,330 coming their way. County Executive Richard Wittenberg wanted to give the raises because, he said, those officials did not receive paid vacations. His effort, however, was thwarted 3-2 in a deferred vote by the supervisors.
For attorneys employed by Santa Clara County, the past year has been especially lucrative. Not only did they enjoy their 9.5 percent increase in pay last September, but they also received another 5 percent hike in December. For example, County Counsel Ann Ravel's pay shot up almost $28,000, from $185,906 to $213,746. Her three assistant counsels all received $23,309 increases. The six attorneys in the public defender's office divvied up a $144,281 pay increase among them. Further, the nine attorneys in the district attorney's office saw a total combined pay increase of $219,077 in the last year.
In all, 171 positions within the county's executive management group saw raises of at least 5 percent. Thirty-one positions within that group, because of compaction, market comparisons and internal adjustment, saw even more of a salary bump. Their additional adjustments ranged from 3 percent to 13 percent. Each of the salary increases was technically discretionary because the increases were based on performance (except for the elected officials and board appointees).
"The 5 percent adjustments are applied to the ranges of all executive management classifications," says Deputy County Executive Leode Franklin. "Movement of salaries only occurs based on individual evaluations. So, while the salary classification moves, the individual salary doesn't necessarily move unless the manager recommends it."
However, despite the uncertainties of individual evaluations and manager recommendations, each of the 171 positions up for a raise saw a raise. The last time the county did not grant these annual raises was during a three-year stretch in the early 1990s, says Franklin.
Franklin continues that, especially for the aforementioned 31 executive positions, the raises are both a reward for performance and a result of market and internal analyses. The county looks at other counties as well as cities to compare salaries. "What we do is we will conduct a market study and an internal alignment study to make sure managers are being paid fairly."
For 33 executive level positions for the Santa Clara County Health and Hospital Systems, salaries increased as well. Because the nurses staffing the hospital had earlier negotiated higher wages to match wages received by nurses in other, similar hospitals, much of the executive staff received pay increases of more than the across-the-board 5 percent. There's even a term for it. "As a result of the increase they received, the managers got an increase," says County Deputy Executive Leode Franklin. "There was compaction. A manager was only earning only a couple percentage points more than working nurses." According to comparisons of midpoint salaries proved by Santa Clara County, the raises awarded to executives in the health and hospital division will cost the county more than $300,000. The average raise a health and hospital executive received was about $9,138, the highest was about $18,541 and the lowest was about $4,133.
Board Certified
Warranted or not, the timing of the raises, in effect, raises questions. With a deflated economy and the threat of cuts in county services looming, should this have been one of those years, like the early '90s, when supervisors decided not to increase manager salaries?
"I'm sure the board had lots of concerns with the turn of the economy," Franklin says. "But they recognized that labor groups moved salaries last year, and they needed to show executive management parity. For example, all of the labor groups negotiate with the county for labor and benefits. They already had a wage increase of 6 percent last year. Because of that, the market showed that additional realignment was needed. The board takes into account what other labor groups receive, and keeps parity. The manager group isn't represented, so the board needs to do that."
But, if a tightening budget causes layoffs, will labor have a case to protest their managers' raises?
"All the employees got raises," answers Franklin. "If you raise the question, you have to raise it across the board. And, typically, labor groups know when there will be budget cuts. They're prepared to negotiate around that. If layoffs occur, we'll work around that. They don't look at salary adjustments. I think the board struggled with all that. I think they knew that they were entering into a financially difficult arena. But, again, other labor groups did receive a 6 percent increase last year. From that prospective, the board moved forward. I certainly don't want to say the board did it lightly."
Santa Clara County Senior Management Raises and Salaries 2003
Name |
Title |
2002 Salary |
Raise |
2003 Salary |
Office of the Assessor |
Lawrence Stone |
Assessor |
140,098 |
10,508 |
150,606 |
Mary Solseng |
Assistant Assessor |
112,740 |
5,758 |
118,498 |
Lee Kincannon |
Dir., Info. Systems |
106,211 |
5,412 |
111,625 |
Robert Easley |
Chief Appraiser |
92,196 |
4,611 |
96,807 |
Virginia Harnley |
Chief Auditor-Appraiser |
92,196 |
4,611 |
96,807 |
Vacant |
Chief Assess. Stand. & Serv. |
90,440 |
4,524 |
94,964 |
Rhonda Armstrong |
Assessor's Off. Admin. Serv. Man. |
82,836 |
8,493 |
91,329 |
Clerk of the Board of Supervisors |
Phyllis Perez-Sorensen |
Clerk of the Board of Supervisors |
110,930 |
12,923 |
123,853 |
Ann Sloan |
Chief Deputy - Clerk of the Board |
83,622 |
6,818 |
90,440 |
Office of the County Counsel |
Ann Ravel** |
County Counsel |
185,906 |
27,840 |
213,746 |
Debra Cauble** |
Assistant County Counsel |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
Laurie Faulkner ** |
Assistant County Counsel |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
Susan Levenberg** |
Assistant County Counsel |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
Alice Wheatley |
Administrative Services Manager |
89,099 |
9,133 |
98,232 |
Office of the County Executive |
Richard Wittenberg |
County Executive |
232,788 |
11,641 |
244,429 |
Peter Kutras, Jr. |
Assistant County Executive |
167,975 |
8,590 |
176,565 |
Jane Decker |
Deputy County Executive |
157,431 |
8,048 |
165,479 |
Gary Graves |
Deputy County Executive |
157,431 |
8,048 |
165,479 |
Sandra Nathan |
Deputy County Executive |
157,431 |
8,048 |
165,479 |
Melinda Cervantes* |
County Librarian |
130,256 |
6,656 |
136,912 |
Jesse Durazo |
Registrar of Voters |
122,791 |
6,173 |
128,964 |
Leslie Crowell |
Budget Manager |
111,623 |
5,699 |
117,322 |
Gwendolyn Mitchell |
Public Communication Director |
111,070 |
5,670 |
116,740 |
Pat Love |
Special Projects Director |
96,335 |
15,288 |
111,623 |
Jeffrey Davis |
Admin., Meas. B Improvement Prog. |
101,152 |
5,059 |
106,211 |
Julie Farnsworth |
Deputy County Librarian |
99,226 |
4,963 |
104,189 |
Elaine Larson |
Assistant Registrar of Voters |
93,544 |
4,688 |
98,232 |
Peter Ng |
Administrative Services Manager |
89,099 |
9,133 |
98,232 |
Gay Strand |
Administrative Services Manager |
89,099 |
9,133 |
98,232 |
Terry Gitlin |
Dir. of Emergency Preparedness |
89,563 |
4,478 |
94,041 |
Mary Patterson |
Special Asst. for Children's Serv. |
89,099 |
4,455 |
93,554 |
Mary Patterson |
Special Asst. for Children's Serv. |
89,099 |
4,455 |
93,554 |
Department of Child Support Services |
Peter Dever |
Dir., Dept. of Child Support Services |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
Vacant |
Dep. Dir., Dept. of Child Supp. Serv |
120,881 |
33,438 |
154,319 |
Idell Hunter (acting)* |
Administrative Services Manager |
89,099 |
9,133 |
98,232 |
Department of Correction |
James Babcock |
Chief of Correction |
144,852 |
7,244 |
152,096 |
Edward Flores |
Assistant Chief of Correction |
118,498 |
6,050 |
124,548 |
David Gottlieb |
Correctional Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
Sandra Padget-Miles |
Correctional Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
Robert Bravo |
Correctional Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
Toby Wong |
Correctional Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
Vacant |
Correctional Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
Jonathon Wolin |
Administrative Services Manager |
101,152 |
5,059 |
106,211 |
Office of the District Attorney |
George Kennedy** |
District Attorney |
191,628 |
30,794 |
222,422 |
Paula Kuty** |
Chief Asst. District Attorney |
161,404 |
25,120 |
186,524 |
Marc Buller** |
Assistant District Attorney |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
Thomas Fahrenholz** |
Assistant District Attorney |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
William Larsen** |
Assistant District Attorney |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
Karyn Sinunu** |
Assistant District Attorney |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
Alvin Weger** |
Assistant District Attorney |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
Vacant** |
District Attorney |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
Thomas Brewer |
Chief Investigator |
109,423 |
11,458 |
120,881 |
Benny Del Re |
Director of the Crime Laboratory |
96,335 |
4,817 |
101,152 |
Chau Trinh |
Administrative Services Manager |
89,099 |
9,133 |
98,232 |
Employee Services Agency |
Leode Franklin |
Deputy County Executive |
157,431 |
8,048 |
165,479 |
Luke Leung |
Human Resources Director |
129,609 |
6,623 |
136,232 |
Maria Dupras |
Dir., Equal Opp. and Empl Devlpt. |
101,152 |
10,471 |
111,623 |
Janet Moody |
Director, Risk Management |
101,152 |
10,471 |
111,623 |
Joanne Cox |
Human Resources Oper. Man.r |
89,099 |
9,133 |
98,232 |
Sheila Mohan* |
Financial and Admin.Svs. Manager |
89,099 |
9,133 |
98,232 |
Ken Phillips |
Labor Relations Manager |
89,099 |
9,133 |
98,232 |
Thelma Zuniga |
Man., Workers' Comp. Division |
87,805 |
4,391 |
92,196 |
Karen Rixman |
Admin., Exec. Recruitment Services |
86,133 |
4,307 |
90,440 |
Office of the Medical Examiner/Coroner |
Gregory Schmunk |
Chief Medical Examiner/Coroner |
158,217 |
8,089 |
166,306 |
Diana Hunter |
Adminstrative Services Manger |
82,836 |
8,493 |
91,329 |
*Denotes officials who did not receive compensation from Santa Clara County last year at that position.
**These attorney salaries include a 9.5% increase given in September and a 5% bump in December.
Santa Clara County Senior Management Raises and Salaries 2003
Name |
Title |
2002 Salary |
Raise |
2003 Salary |
Finance Agency |
John Guthrie |
Director, Finance Agency |
157,431 |
8,048 |
165,479 |
Dave Elledge |
Controller/Treasurer |
119,088 |
6,082 |
125,170 |
Cheryl Johnson |
Tax Collector |
111,070 |
5,670 |
116,740 |
George Rixman |
Fiscal Services Manager |
108,339 |
5,531 |
113,870 |
Bruce Overoye |
Info. Sys. Mgr. - Tax Collector's Off. |
106,211 |
5,412 |
111,623 |
Brenda Davis |
County Clerk/Recorder |
98,744 |
4,938 |
103,682 |
John Lernes |
Chief Internal Auditor |
96,335 |
4,817 |
101,152 |
Herb Wiley |
Investment Officer |
90,884 |
9,316 |
100,200 |
Bob McGrath |
Director, Revenue Collections |
93,554 |
4,678 |
98,232 |
Jim Sadtler |
Chief Accounting Manager |
89,099 |
4,455 |
93,554 |
Lesha Luu |
Controller - Treasurer Div. Man. |
89,099 |
4,455 |
93,554 |
Vinod Sharma |
Controller - Treasurer Div. Man. |
89,099 |
4,455 |
93,554 |
Gina Alcomendras |
Assistant County Clerk/Recorder |
85,297 |
4,266 |
89,563 |
Wendy Beadle |
Tax Apportionment Manager |
82,432 |
4,123 |
86,555 |
General Services Agency |
Kevin Carruth |
Dir. of General Services Agency |
146,083 |
7,469 |
153,552 |
Larry Jinkins |
Facilities Director |
126,422 |
6,455 |
132,877 |
Ken Rado |
Manager, Capital Programs |
111,623 |
5,699 |
117,322 |
Rita Hamilton |
Director of Procurement |
109,970 |
5,614 |
115,584 |
Dueane Williams |
GSA Communications Director |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
Nancy Fowler |
Man., Property Management Div. |
101,152 |
5,059 |
106,211 |
Steve Black |
Manager, Building Operations |
97,756 |
4,888 |
102,644 |
Bert Hildebrand (acting) |
Administrative Services Manager |
89,099 |
9,133 |
98,232 |
Probation Department |
John Cavalli |
Chief Probation Officer |
131,560 |
6,725 |
138,285 |
Kathy Duque* |
Deputy Chief Probation Officer |
101,152 |
5,059 |
106,211 |
Gerald Neary |
Deputy Chief Probation Officer |
101,152 |
5,059 |
106,211 |
Vacant |
Deputy Chief Probation Officer |
101,152 |
5,059 |
106,211 |
Delores Nnam |
Adminstrative Services Manager |
101,152 |
5,059 |
106,211 |
Office of the Public Defender |
Jose Villarreal** |
Public Defender |
173,122 |
25,925 |
199,047 |
David Mann** |
Chief Asst. Public Defender |
161,404 |
25,120 |
186,524 |
Grant Armstrong** |
Assistant Public Defender |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
Mary Greenwood** |
Assistant Public Defender |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
Ronald Norman** |
Assistant Public Defender |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
Position Deleted** |
Assistant Public Defender |
149,770 |
23,309 |
173,079 |
Alayne Bolster |
Chief Public Defender Investigator |
97,280 |
9,986 |
107,266 |
Donna Prochazka |
Administrative Services Manager |
89,099 |
9,133 |
98,232 |
Roads and Airports Department |
Michael Murdter |
Dir., Roads and Airport Department |
137,596 |
7,037 |
144,633 |
Anthony Arata |
Adminstrative Services Manager |
89,099 |
9,133 |
98,232 |
Office of the Sheriff |
Laurie Smith |
Sheriff |
170,823 |
10,250 |
181,073 |
Vacant |
Undersheriff |
127,687 |
6,521 |
134,208 |
Darrel Starnbaugh* |
Commander |
116,740 |
5,961 |
122,701 |
Dennis Bacon* |
Commander |
116,740 |
5,961 |
122,701 |
Naomi Tsururnoto |
Dir. of Sheriff's Admin. Svc. |
116,740 |
5,961 |
122,701 |
Ernest Smedlund |
Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
Robert Dixon* |
Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
David Tomlinson* |
Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
Peter Rode* |
Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
John Hirokawa* |
Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
Edward Perry* |
Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
Joseph Kirby* |
Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
Lindley Zink* |
Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
Steve Angus* |
Captain |
107,266 |
5,474 |
112,740 |
Gary Aslanian |
Director, Information Systems |
106,211 |
5,412 |
111,623 |
Social Services Agency |
Will Lightbourne |
Director Social Services Agency |
144,633 |
7,396 |
152,029 |
Cliff O'Connor |
Chief Deputy Dir., Social Services |
119,683 |
6,111 |
125,794 |
Norma Doctor-Sparks |
Dir., Family and Children Services |
110,519 |
9,164 |
119,683 |
Dorothy Smith* |
Director of Information Systems |
110,519 |
5,641 |
116,160 |
Vacant |
Dir. of Employment and Benefits |
108,339 |
5,531 |
113,870 |
Onita Spake |
Chief Fiscal Officer |
104,701 |
8,603 |
113,304 |
Betty Malks |
Director, Adult and Aging Services |
103,682 |
5,198 |
108,880 |
Christine Sorensen Baucus |
Chief Administrative Officer |
100,200 |
5,011 |
105,211 |
Doug Southard* |
Children's Shelter Director |
99,715 |
4,986 |
104,701 |
Zonia Beecher-Waldon |
Asst. Dir., Family and Children |
99,715 |
4,986 |
104,701 |
Ken Borelli |
Asst. Dir., Family and Children |
99,715 |
4,986 |
104,701 |
Hector Garza |
Administrator of Benefit Services |
94,964 |
4,751 |
99,715 |
Alette Lundeberg |
Administrator of Benefit Services |
94,964 |
4,751 |
99,715 |
Robert Cecil |
Public Administrator/Guardian |
94,964 |
4,751 |
99,715 |
Editor's Note: These salary amounts are approximations based on biweekly salary information provided by the county and rounded to the nearest dollar.
*Denotes officials who did not receive compensation from Santa Clara County last year at that position.
**These attorney salaries include a 9.5% increase given in September and a 5% bump in December.
Send a letter to the editor about this story to letters@metronews.com.
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From the February 13-19, 2003 issue of Metro, Silicon Valley's Weekly Newspaper.
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