Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. (Photo: sccob.saccounty.gov)
Sacramento’s Elected Politicians Enrich Themselves With Pay Increases and Shiny Stadiums
Sacto Co. Supervisors approve their own 37% raise while Mayor ‘moves forward’ on new Soccer stadium with no Expansion team
By Katy Grimes, May 24, 2023 8:45 am
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors just approved their own massive 37% salary raise. They also approved increasing their car allowances from $500 to $550 per month.
The 37% raise will increase their salaries to $173,398 from $127,159. Supervisor Sue Frost was the only “no” vote both times on the raise stating, “I cannot vote to give myself a raise while my constituents are facing higher taxes, inflation, and energy prices.”
The median household income in Sacramento County is $76,422.
On the heels of this tone-deaf group of elected supervisors richly remunerating themselves, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced he was moving forward with the city’s plans to build a professional soccer stadium – even though plans for a Major League Soccer expansion team fell through recently.
“Plans for a new soccer stadium in the Railyards just north of downtown Sacramento remain in place despite the region being passed over for Major League Soccer expansion last week,” the Sacramento Bee reported. “Sacramento, behind USL club Republic FC, remained a candidate throughout the process, but ultimately the nod went to San Diego.”
“We are moving forward with a first-class stadium in The Railyards,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg wrote in a statement to The Sacramento Bee. “Hopefully, it will be in partnership with Major League Soccer but either way we are going to work in partnership with the Sac Republic team, the community, and the fan base to bring years of great soccer to Sacramento.”
According to ESPN, “One source said that the costs for the Sacramento stadium went from $300 million to $400 million, while infrastructure costs increased from $27 million to $47 million.”
In any normal person’s budget, 37% raises and professional soccer stadiums are considered luxury items to be enjoyed during times of plenty. Sacramento City and County are not exactly reveling in abundance – except perhaps the abundance of drug addicted street vagrants taking over neighborhoods, public parks and living along the rivers.
The County of Sacramento contracted with consultants Ralph Andersen & Associates to conduct a compensation survey of Elected Board Officials in the established market for Sacramento County in order to review the current pay practice and salaries. They recommended that the percent of salary for the Supervisors be increased from 55% to 75% of Superior Court Judge salary, which is the median percentage used by other jurisdictions, resulting in an increase of approximately 20% to the Board of Supervisor salaries, according to the report provided to Supervisors by the Department of Personnel Services.
They also recommended “Use median of optimized market. This is the standard used for the majority of positions within Sacramento County, and therefore is a logical and reasonable market position for the Board. This results in a recommended increase of approximately 29% for Supervisor salaries.”
This has been the game played by elected lawmakers in recent decades. They learn that supervisors in another county are being paid more, and seek out justification to “align the board with other jurisdictions” and raise their own salaries and benefits.
Mayor Steinberg and the Sacramento City Council members will receive a pay increase in June following the city’s compensation commission approval of a 3.5% salary increase. The City of Sacramento is facing a projected deficit of $24.5 million for the 2024-25 fiscal year, Capradio.org reported.
As for the Sacramento County $7.3 billion recommended budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23, the closest they get to addressing a budget shortfall is, “ongoing expenditures are more closely aligned with ongoing resources.”
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With the notable exception of Sue Frost and a handful of others in CA, it’s really amazing how quickly these good-for-nothings and their clones went from “we think it’s only fair that our salaries somewhat reflect comparable jobs in the private sector” to “Hahaha, we just voted ourselves a HUGE pay raise after which we’ll be screwing you over worse than before and you’ll be paying for it. What are you gonna do about it, huh? Hahahaha. Suckers.”
LESSON: If we should ever return to semi-sanity, folks, just remember that to give these scoundrels an inch means they will ALWAYS take ten million miles.
We can thank our lucky stars that we have honest, in-depth reporting like this article on this latest out-right mugging of taxpayers.
AMEN
We can thank our lucky stars that we have honest, in-depth reporting like this article on this latest outright mugging of taxpayers.
when people are struggling under demo-rat inflation policies, when the state and most blue cities are on the verge of bankruptcy, when our streets are full of unemployed homeless due to legislative drug pusher policies, what does our ‘vote by mail’ elected do? vote themselves a 37% raise. Go figure, and will the people continue to support our corrupt elections? yes, I wonder if the ‘big guy’ gets 10%.
No one should be surprised that the corrupt Democrats on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors just approved their own massive 37% salary raise? Sue Frost is the only Sacramento County Supervisor who has any integrity, but then she’s not a Democrat. She’s an independent. Phil Serna, the obnoxious District 1 Supervisor who somehow keeps getting installed into office, tried to deflect the outrage over the raise by saying that the supervisors themselves had not asked for their raise. However, Serna and his fellow Democrat Supervisors voted for the raise on April 18 and then again on May 23. Many Sacramentan’s are struggling with soaring inflation, high taxes and diminished finances. It’s unconceivable that Sacramento City and County Democrat politicians would be voting themselves raises during these tenuous financial times? Many of us Sacramento natives are dismayed to see how years of Democrat control have destroyed the once pleasant City and County of Sacramento?
YES, it is really beyond belief that this should have happened, isn’t it, Samantha?
These people are really pushing it now, and asking for trouble.