When San Benito County hired new Planning Director Gary
Armstrong in late July
– and agreed to pay him about $15,000 more than the prior
department head – his top assistant got more than just a new
boss.
When San Benito County hired new Planning Director Gary Armstrong in late July – and agreed to pay him about $15,000 more than the prior department head – his top assistant got more than just a new boss.
Assistant Planner Byron Turner received a nearly $12,000 raise because the county’s compensation contracts for such managers included a provision that the assistant or deputy directors had to make precisely 80 percent of their respective department head’s salaries. It comes at a bad time for the county, where officials are trying to cut costs in line with vast revenue decreases and steeply declining reserves.
Turner’s raise amounts to a 10.8 percent pay hike. Along with Armstrong’s higher salary, the two top planners’ total annual pay – in a county where growth has been stagnant for years – just escalated by $26,700.
Supervisor Anthony Botelho said board members were not informed of the correlating increase to Turner’s salary when they approved Armstrong’s appointment with the higher salary. Assistant County Administrative Officer Rich Inman, meanwhile, said he had been aware of the impact on Turner’s salary during negotiations, but that he “never liked” the provision calling for the 80 percent figure.
Said Botelho, “I certainly wasn’t aware it would trigger other increases to other folks.”
Botelho said supervisors should have been informed of it when they approved Armstrong’s hiring.
“Yes, I definitely would like to know everything when we make a decision,” he said.
County supervisors in late July agreed to appoint Armstrong as the successor to the prior, permanent planning director, Art Henriques.
Henriques, who left after four years on the job, had made $137,748 annually. Armstrong’s agreement called for starting at a higher step in the pay range for that position.
His salary this year is $152,568 – along with a $500 monthly car allowance and 120 hours of administrative leave. Turner’s salary increased from $110,198 to $122,054, according to figures provided by Inman. The salary figures are before a required 5 percent furlough cut for all county employees.
After the Turner raise, supervisors this week approved a new arrangement with assistant and deputy department heads that nixes the 80 percent provision and places all of them on individual pay-range schedules.
Inman noted how the stipulation had been in place before he started with the county.
“I’ve never liked it,” he said, noting how the prior contracts were set to sunset in early October, while contending that was the reason for the board’s change this week.
As for Turner’s raise and its timing, Botelho called it an “awkward” situation.
“I know that’s kind of a big pay raise at a time when we’re looking to cut the budget,” he said. “That’s what makes it more awkward.”
Botelho did say even with Turner’s increase, his salary is not in line with comparable positions in other regional counties – although those areas generally are wealthier and have brighter budget outlooks.
He said expectations are high with Armstrong – who comes from the private sector after working for Irvine-based RBF Consulting – which led to the escalated pay.
“I really believe that the skill set of this new planning director is quite a bit higher (than Henriques had),” Botelho said. “We expect a whole lot more from him.”
