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Update: Public Employees Unions Kick Off Campaign To Overturn Board Of Supes' Raise

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MARTINEZ (BCN)

Sevral Contra Costa County public employees unions today announced the launch of a referendum to overturn the county Board of Supervisors' recent decision to give its members a 33 percent raise.

More than two-dozen union members gathered in the rain in Martinez this afternoon to notify the county Registrar of Voters of their intent to seek signatures for a referendum to invalidate the salary hike, which will raise the supervisors' annual salary from $97,483 to $129,227.

"When it comes to the county's budget priorities, the message from (the Board of Supervisors) is clear -- necessary county services and dedicated public employees should come last, and the Board of Supervisors should come first," Public Employees Union, Local 1 general manager Peter Nguyen said at a news conference outside of the registrar's office.

"We believe the public disagrees, and are calling for this to be a citizen-driven campaign, to hold this board accountable and demand fairness and transparency from these elected officials," he said.

PEU Local 1, the county's largest union, is spearheading the campaign with strong backing from the county Deputy Sheriff's Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2700 United Clerical, Technical and Specialized Employees. At least 24,000 signatures from registered county voters must be collected by Jan. 2 in order for the referendum to succeed, according to PEU Local 1 assistant general manager Phil Hu.

Today several people showed up to sign the referendum as a group of union members nearby held signs that read, "Say no to greed" and "Say yes to accountability."

If the referendum garners enough signatures, the board would have to revisit the pay raise and would be required to seek voter approval before passing another salary increase.

The board voted for the $32,000 raise on Oct. 28 amidst vocal opposition from unions and other community members. Supervisor Candace Andersen cast the sole "no" vote on the salary hike, citing the meager raises given to county employee groups in recent years and saying the boost was too much to do at once.

"For many years now, our members have been told during bargaining that times are tough, that our tax base isn't the same as other counties, that we're all in it together. Our members have dealt with layoffs, furloughs, takebacks, increased health premiums, increased retirement payments," Hu said.

"Now here comes the initial sign that economic times are starting to get a little better...and the people that have consistently pled poverty during negotiations now basically run to the front of the line and say, 'Me first,'" said Hu.

Under the salary increase ordinance, the board also voted to set their incomes at 70 percent of the county's superior court judges - following a practice used in most other Bay Area counties of tying their wages to county court judges. That means the board will get a raise whenever county superior court judges do.

"What happens then is, it is completely out of sight or out of mind, it no longer comes to public scrutiny," said Hu.

Supervisor Andersen, the lone dissenting vote, has waived the raise and said she would instead accept an increase of 4 percent in line with county employees' recent raises.

But the other four supervisors -- Karen Mitchoff, Federal Glover, John Gioia and Mary Piepho -- say that while raising their own salaries is always a controversial move, the increase is necessary after years of delaying the issue and that it will prevent them from deciding their own raises in the future.

"I think the board was fair when it looked at its sister counties and wanted to adopt a policy around tying our salaries to judges' salaries, that is now becoming the norm throughout California," Supervisor Mitchoff said.

"I thought it was a prudent decision but they disagree with that, that's the democratic process," she added.

Supervisor Gioia said that after seven years without a raise - the latest was in 2007 after the board voted to give itself a 60 percent raise - the board wanted only to move toward the average salary of supervisors throughout the nine-county Bay Area and other California urban counties.

At $129,000, Contra Costa County supervisors' salary will come to about $18,000 less than supervisors in the more populous Alameda and Santa Clara counties, but still lower than in Sonoma County, where the board of supervisors earns $138,500 annually, according to county documents.

Gioia said that the board has also worked to increase county employee salaries based on comparisons to the same departments in other counties, and in some cases, has given substantial raises. The county recently agreed a roughly 20 percent raise for hazardous materials personnel represented by the Western Council of Engineers, according to Gioia.

Ken Westermann, president of the Contra Costa County Deputy Sheriffs Association, said he doesn't begrudge the board their raises, but questions the amount of the increase and the timing.

"We've tried over the last decade to bargain in good faith," said Westermann. "We've seen cut after cut, and I've had to go to my members and say, 'They can't afford to give us what we know we deserve.'"

The supervisors' raise comes as the county continues to shed law enforcement officers and other personnel seeking higher pay in other counties.

More than 40 deputy sheriffs left the county this year for better pay at other agencies, according to Westermann.



(925) 228-1600

Contra Costa County Administrator David Twa (925) 335-1080 or county spokeswoman Betsy Burkhart (925) 313-1183

Contra Costa County DSA President Ken Westermann (925) 228-9710



EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: Images related to this story can be obtained from the following Bay City News Service Web links:

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