Initiative qualifies for November ballot

The San Bernardino County Elected Officials Pay Reduction Act has qualified for the November 2012 ballot.  On March 7, 2012 over 73,000 signatures were submitted to the Registrar of Voters.

On March 21, 2012 Registrar Michael Scarpello certified that sufficient signatures had been collected.  On March 28, 2012, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to place the initiative on the ballot rather than conducting a study, which would have only postponed the vote and cause additional costs for taxpayers.

Supervisors have said they plan to have an independent “study” to let voters know the “impacts” of the initiative.  They have also said that if the initiative passes in November, there may be a court challenge to prevent it from taking effect.  Supervisors have a history of authorizing unlimited spending on legal fights they eventually lose.

San Bernardino Public Employees Association endorses initiative

For a second time in a little over a week, a San Bernardino County employees’ union has endorsed the Elected Official Pay Reduction Act.  The initiative will reduce the pay and benefit package of San Bernardino County supervisors from a high of $308,000 a year to $60,000.

It will also make the board  part-time and reduce the amount each member can spend on staffing and office space.  This provision alone will save taxpayers $4.5 million a year.

Safety union supports part-time board of supervisors initiative

This press release was issue earlier today by the Safety Employees Benefit Association:

SAN BERNARDINO, CA

— “On January 4th the SEBA Board of Directors unanimously endorsed and authorized SEBA Political Issues Committee to qualify and pass the San Bernardino County Elected Officials Pay Reduction Act. We are funding paid petition circulators who are gathering signatures at a record pace. This charter amendment establishes a part-time Board of Supervisors, reduces their pay and benefits commensurate with part-time status, and reduces their staff budgets from a total of $6 million to approximately $250,000 per office. It is our position that the Board of Supervisorshas become a part-time body and should be compensated accordingly.

Over the past two years they have met barely 50% of the time. They have delegated much of their constitutional duties to an unelected CEO. Their land use responsibilities are shrinking with annexations and incorporations. In these austere times, part-time work should result in part time pay. This is a very popular charter amendment,” concluded President Leichliter.

I can tell you that Leichliter is not exaggerating in the least when he refers to the signature gathering as taking place at a record pace. We collected so many signatures the first week, it overwhelmed our capabilities to keep up.

Download the Petition

If you would like to sign the petition to make the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors part-time and reduce their pay and benefits to $60,000 per year, you can download the petition here:

→BOS Pay Reduction Act←

 

To be valid, you must print and submit all FOUR pages.  The completed petitions can be mailed to:  PO Box 2722, Apple Valley, CA 92307-0052.

Thank you for your participation.

 

Why is there need for reform?

Members of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors have proven they are incapable of policing their own members and their subordinate staff or controlling their insatiable appetites to have increasingly more taxpayer dollars deposited in their personal bank accounts.  In 2006, the Board sponsored Measure P, promoting it as “term limits.”   What Measure P really accomplished was to raise supervisors’ salary from $99,000 per year to over $152,000 per year over a two-year period.

Upon approval of Measure P, supervisors then voted to increase their benefits, including the option of a county-paid health insurance policy that exceeded $25,000 per year.  Some parts of that increase were reduced in 2009 under duress.  Supervisors continue to participate in multiple county-paid retirement plans and receive a substantial automobile and communication device allowance.

During the several-year period in which the supervisors facilitated substantial increases to their taxpayer-paid compensation packages, they reduced the number of weekly meetings convened to deliberate county business and listen to the concerns of its citizens in open forum.  They limited the number of meetings to 27 out of 52 weeks per year.  In other words, they are meeting approximately half of the year while receiving full-time compensation.

In November 2010, the Board of Supervisors created by ordinance and without voter approval the non-elected position of “County Executive Officer” whose powers and authority far exceed that of the former “County Administrative Officer” position.   The Board included a “non-interference” clause, limiting their ability to act on behalf of their constituents. The contract for this non-elected “County Executive Officer” includes language requiring a 4/5th vote to terminate his employment and allows termination only under a very narrow set of circumstances usually reserved for elected officials guilty of malfeasance in office.  Without the consent of the People, the Board in effect circumvented the will of the People by transferring some of their power to a non-elected official that is not accountable to the People and cannot be removed by the People.

The Board of Supervisors has significantly increased the size of their personal staffs and has rewarded them with substantial contracts, some of which approach $225,000 in salary and benefits.  The total cost to taxpayers for the salary and benefits of these staff members now exceeds $6 million per year.

Members of the Board of Supervisors have used taxpayer funds to purchase for their own use top-of-the-line vehicles and lease lavish office space for district offices.  Taxpayers are forced to foot the bill for multi-million dollar office remodels.  Car insurance policies, vehicle maintenance, and fuel are paid for by taxpayers so that the supervisors and their families can drive county-owned vehicles out of the country and/or out of state while on vacation.

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors has violated the trust placed in its members by the voters to act on behalf of the residents in a fiscally responsible manner.  Board members have proven they require a higher level of oversight and restrictions placed upon them by the residents of San Bernardino County.