County Unveils Proposed Raises for Top Officials : Work force: Pay hikes range up to 4%. Left out until after election are clerk and recorder.

SANTA ANA —  County government department heads--including Sheriff Brad Gates and District Attorney Michael R. Capizzi--would receive their first pay raises in three years under a plan the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider on Tuesday.

The proposed salary increases, which range from 2.5% to 4%, are based on job performance reviews recently completed by the Board of Supervisors and county administrative officer Ernie Schneider.

Absent from the list of county executives receiving pay hikes are Clerk Gary L. Granville and beleaguered Recorder Lee Branch, whom supervisors censured earlier this year after an investigation concluded that he sexually harassed two female employees and mismanaged his department.

Voters on Nov. 8 will elect either Granville or Branch to serve in the newly combined position of Recorder-Clerk.

Schneider insisted Friday that the decision to deny Branch and Granville pay raises was not related to job performance. Rather, the supervisors will consider granting a raise to whomever wins the election, he said.

The raises reflect the county’s improving fiscal picture, Schneider said.

But county government watchdog Shirley Grindle questioned whether the proposed raises for top county executives are warranted. “I think (their pay) should stay where it is,” Grindle said. “My feeling is that they are overpaid to begin with.”

Of the county’s 27 top managers, 14, including Gates, Capizzi and Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert Citron, are slated to receive the highest raises available--4%. That total indicates they are doing an “outstanding job,” Schneider said.

Another top official not granted a raise under the proposal is Murry L. Cable, manager of the Integrated Waste Management Department.

Cable will be considered for a raise only after he completes an internal review of his department that could lead to a reorganization, said Russ Patton, the county’s human resources manager. The department operates the county’s landfills.

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“We want to make sure (the department) is as cost-effective as possible,” Patton said. “We want to make sure our (sanitation) rates for contract cities are as low as possible.”

Schneider said some supervisors have concerns about the way the department is being run.

“We are putting his salary increase on hold until an evaluation of the department is done,” Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder said. “What is needed is some more (industrial) expertise in the department.”

Also set to receive 4% raises are Schneider, Patton, County Counsel Terry C. Andrus and Larry J. Holms, director of fire services.

If the recommendations are approved, Schneider’s salary would rise from $135,512 to $140,940. Capizzi’s salary would rise to $126,214 and Gates’ would jump to $115,689.

Among the nine managers set to receive 2.5% raises are Ronald Y. Butler, head of the public defender’s office, and Assessor Bradley L. Jacobs.

Department heads were judged on their ability to increase efficiency in their departments, stay within their budgets, generate new revenue and practice innovative management techniques, Patton said.

The supervisors also considered the officials’ interpersonal skills and whether they motivated employees. Schneider said he looked at whether managers “are team players or have their own agendas.”

County rank-and-file employees received salary increases of 2.5% to 3.5% this year and have received pay hikes for two of the last three years, Schneider said.

Proposed Raises

Most county department managers would receive raises of as much as 4% under a plan to be discussed by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. A look at top county officials, their current salaries and their proposed salaries:

Current Proposed Assessor Bradley L. Jacobs $97,760.00 $100,214.40 Auditor-Controller Steve E. Lewis 100,568.00 104,582.40 County Clerk Gary L. Granville 83,075.20 83,075.20 County Recorder Lee Branch 75,420.80 75,420.80 Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi 121,368.00 126,214.40 Sheriff-Coroner Brad Gates 111,238.40 115,689.60 Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron 100,339.20 104,353.60 Airport Manager Jan Mittermeier 95,596.80 99,424.00 Clerk of the Board Phyllis A. Henderson 60,611.20 62,129.60 County Administrator Ernie Schneider 135,512.00 140,940.80 County Counsel Terry C. Andrus 110,323.20 114,732.80 Chief Probation Officer Michael Schumacher 99,091.20 103,064.00 Human Resources Director Russ Patton 99,091.20 103,064.00 Public Defender Ronald Y. Butler 95,035.20 97,406.40 Environmental Management Agency 102,731.20 106,849.60 Director Michael M. Ruane

Source: County of Orange