SHASTA COUNTY: Supervisors clash over longevity pay and give salary hike
A heated exchange between Shasta County supervisors Leonard Moty and Les Baugh played out at the regular board meeting on Tuesday and it is not the first time the two have butted heads.
SHASTA COUNTY: Supervisors clash over longevity pay and give salary hike A heated exchange between Shasta County supervisors Leonard Moty and Les Baugh played out at the regular board meeting on Tuesday and it is not the first time the two have butted heads. Check out this story on redding.com: http://reddingne.ws/2fn70Xb
Redding Record Searchlight Published 2:52 p.m. PT June 21, 2016
Shasta County Supervisors Leonard Moty and Les Baugh exchanged heated words at the regular board meeting on Tuesday, the latest in a string of conflicts between the two.
The argument stemmed from Baugh going to County Counsel Rubin Cruse and asking if Moty was harassing elected officials when he asked them to give money back to the county that they had received as longevity stipends.
The Shasta County Grand Jury report found giving these officials the pay was an error and the board voted to stop doing so in the future. But those officials will not stop receiving that pay until January 2019.
Those affected are Sheriff Tom Bosenko, Treasurer Lori Scott and Assessor Leslie Morgan.
From his conversation with Baugh, Cruse wrote a legal opinion, which Moty said was in his favor. The opinion was sent to Baugh and the rest of the board. Moty only found out about Baugh's concern when reading Cruse's memo, he said.
The legal opinion was not immediately made available to the Record Searchlight at press time.
During his supervisor's report, Moty directly addressed Baugh.
'If you would have approached me personally and suggested these concerns, I think I might have accepted that. But you didn't. You went straight to county counsel and you asked these questions,' he said.
Moty said Baugh was trying to silence his criticism of the elected officials.
After the meeting, Baugh said Moty was using a bullying tactic when he asked the officials to give back their pay to the county.
'I asked Mr. Cruse if this were a liability and if this puts us all in an exposed position. The county counsel did not have an answer for me on the bullying tactics,' Baugh said.
Bosenko said the board has voted on the topic three times — twice in favor of elected officials receiving the pay and once more to remove them.
'I consider this matter as resolved,' Bosenko said.
Last year, the board honored the agreement and gave Bosenko and Scott bonuses, $40,000 and $31,649, respectively. In December, Morgan began receiving the stipend.
Also, Moty brought up that some people have raised questions about his retirement pay because in 2009 he served dual roles as the interim assistant city manager and acting Redding police chief. He saw a pay increase from his increased duties, but said this did not impact his retirement pay.
Moty did not name who raised these questions, but called it an intimidation tactic to get him to stop voicing his opinion at board meetings.
Baugh said the conversation he had with Cruse prompted the opinion given to the board, but did not follow his exact line of questioning.
'Those were the questions as formulated by our county counsel to clearly define the conversation we had. My questions were much different,' Baugh said.
This is not the first time the two supervisors have clashed.
Their divisions go back at least as far as Moty opposing a request to increase space in the proposed Adult Rehabilitation Center, which Bosenko said could use more beds. At the time, Baugh agreed with Bosenko. But Moty said the money was not available.
Moty reminded Baugh on Tuesday that in March he advocated for Costco to relocate in the city of Anderson, Baugh's supervisor district and where his wife, Susie Baugh, is mayor. Baugh made his comments during a public meeting, saying supervisors can speak freely because they serve the people of the county.
'In fact, you used that very same analogy when you, several months ago, advocated for Costco going to Anderson. And you told us very clearly on this board that you have the right to speak, which no one disagreed with,' Moty said.
Moty said the issue of longevity pay will not go away and he asked why Bosenko or any of the elected officials need to be protected from a supervisor's comments.
'If they want, they can come before the board and express their own opinions. There's an open invitation there,' Moty said.
The elected officials will continue to receive their bonuses until January 2019.
At the same meeting, the board unanimously approved a salary hike for department heads and other county managers. The action from the board will set in motion three salary increases over the next two years, which is budgeted as $700,000 for the department heads and $200,000 for a second category of employees.
The first 3 percent increase goes into effect Sunday.
The salary hike affects 62 employees in the appointed and assistant department head category. Another 44 employees, non-managers, are the second category group. The positions include all appointed department heads, including the assistant public defender, chief deputy auditor, chief deputy district attorney, county executive officer, county counsel and the forensic pathologist.
The board approved a similar resolution in April that gave a 3 percent pay increase to 138 county employee positions, with a cost of $865,000 in additional salary.
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