When San Diego County supervisors voted early this year to increase their own salary by more than $19,000 — as angry taxpayers yelled “shame on you” from the packed chamber — newly seated Supervisor Kristin Gaspar cast the lone vote in opposition.

The former Encinitas mayor told the room that she could not support the 12.5 percent pay hike because she was not sure she deserved the money.

“One of the first questions I always ask myself is, ‘Is the compensation appropriate for the work performed?’” she said before casting her no vote. “Awkwardly, I sit here, having been sworn in just 24 hours ago, and I can be the first to admit that I don’t know how to get past that first fundamental question.”

Kristin Gaspar, center, on Jan. 9 — the day she voted against a pay raise for county supervisors, (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune)


Two months later, it turns out, the newest member of the Board of Supervisors will accept the raise, which goes into effect today, pushing her annual $153,289 paycheck up by almost $10,000 for now with an additional boost coming in December.

Gaspar issued a statement explaining her thinking, in response to a question from U-T Watchdog.

“While I did not vote for the proposal, this is now the official compensation for supervisors,” the statement said. “Not accepting it would create a disparity among supervisors who all perform the same job serving the public.”

That position was criticized by good-government activists.


“When she voted no she took a moral stand; obviously that moral stand didn’t mean much,” said John Van Doorn, an electrical engineer from Fallbrook who protested the pay raises before they were approved in January.

“Now she has what she needs to say when she runs for re-election — that she voted against the raises,” Van Doorn said. “But in taking the money, it’s kind of an empty claim.”

The higher salaries for members of the Board of Supervisors kick in as the county faces a deficit of at least $100 million from its $5.4 billion budget. Last month, board Chairwoman Dianne Jacob warned that looming changes in federal spending under the Trump administration could double or even triple that gap.

For decades, the salary paid to county supervisors was set at 80 percent of the compensation paid to Superior Court judges, allowing the elected officials to get periodic pay increases without the spectacle of a public vote on a touchy subject.


The action that Gaspar opposed in January adjusted the pay scale to 85 percent, effective March 17. The compensation rate will climb to 90 percent of a judge’s salary on Dec. 7, driving supervisors’ annual pay to $172,450 (or more if judges get a raise in the meantime).

The increased salary also will boost the elected officials’ county pensions, lifetime benefits that are calculated by the amount of annual earnings.

Simon Mayeski, a San Diego small business owner and longtime volunteer with California Common Cause, said if Gaspar was truly opposed to the pay hike, she would have lobbied her board colleagues against taking the money.

“They were getting raises already that were more or less in line with other employees lately, less than 1 percent,” Mayeski said. “Not good enough for them, they voted to increase the percentage. That’s the story.”


In supporting the proposed raises, supervisors noted that the salary formula had not been amended in almost 20 years.

“San Diego County has the second largest population in the state and in terms of square miles is one of the nation’s largest counties, larger in size than two states,” Supervisor Ron Roberts said at the time. “I am very comfortable this adjustment is fair and justified.”

Pay hikes for elected officials are often controversial. One such dustup is playing out in Boston this month over GOP lawmakers who voted against pay increases for lawmakers, then accepted the money. They are being ridiculed as the “vote no, take the dough” caucus.

Some California lawmakers have declined to accept pay raises in a show of fiscal discipline.


In 2013, after an independent panel approved pay hikes for state legislators, Sen. Mark Wyland, R-Solana Beach, and Assemblyman Rocky Chavez, R-Oceanside, declined the boost for themselves.

“Last time I checked the state still has a structural deficit which we have not addressed as a Legislature,” Chavez said at the time.

Chavez said on Friday that he subsequently accepted the salary increase because voters were aware of the compensation package when they re-elected him.

“I go back to the theory that as long as people know what they are paying me for the job I’m doing, I will take the money,” he said.


Gaspar, a Republican, ran as a fiscal conservative, an approach she also took on the Encinitas City Council. After she was elected supervisor, the Encinitas council in January voted itself a 45 percent raise on a 3-1 vote. Gaspar’s conservative ally, Mark Muir, voted against the increase.

Muir did not immediately responded to an inquiry about whether he plans to accept the raise when it takes effect in late 2018.

Staff writer Ricky Young contributed to this report.

Make your voice heard

What do you think of the supervisor accepting the raise? Use this link to send an email to Gaspar, and copy U-T Watchdog.


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jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald