Humboldt County Union Pushes for Fair Treatment Amid Financial Deficit and Contract Negotiations
Entering contract negotiations during a period of fiscal uncertainty is challenging, especially when the county faces a $15.1 million structural deficit. Despite these financial constraints, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union is negotiating with Humboldt County officials for what they say, is a fair and equitable contract. While specific details of the negotiations remain confidential, the union is advocating for key provisions, including the reinstatement of the “me too” clause—a contract provision that ensures if one group of employees receives a pay increase or other benefit, the same adjustment is extended to others covered by the clause. AFSCME argues that reinstating this clause is essential to maintaining fairness among county workers.
Financial Context
Humboldt County’s financial outlook is a major factor in the ongoing negotiations. The county’s 2024-2025 general fund budget has a projected structural deficit. Deputy County Administrative Officer Jessica Maciel described the mid-year budget outlook as “dismal,” noting that the General Fund is projected to deplete by the end of the 2025-26 fiscal year. Major funds, including those for the Department of Health and Human Services and Roads, are also facing significant negative balances.
Despite these fiscal challenges, the Board of Supervisors has approved raises for themselves in recent years. From 2019 to January 2024, the supervisors’ annual salaries increased nearly 25%, from $87,427 to $109,046.
Meanwhile, many county employees continue to earn wages that are less than $20 an hour, with some working multiple jobs to make ends meet. The union’s representative, Alice Pitt, highlighted the disparity between these increases and the pay of lower-level workers. “How many county employees are eligible for CalFresh and Medi-Cal because their wages are so low?” Pitt asked, pointing out the contrast between the raises for management and the ongoing struggles of frontline workers.
Union’s Key Requests
AFSCME members represent about two-thirds of the county’s workforce, and the union insists that any wage increases given to other county employees should also be extended to union workers, who, they say, have faced wage stagnation and rising costs of living.
A key element of the union’s negotiations is the reinstatement of the “me too” clause, which was part of the AFSCME contract until 2008. Pitt emphasized the importance of this clause, stating, “We really feel that we haven’t received any kind of equitable contract since then.” This provision would ensure that if other bargaining units or county officials receive raises, AFSCME members would automatically receive the same treatment. Although the specifics of the union’s broader requests are confidential, Pitt emphasized that the union’s demands are modest. “We are not asking for large raises… it is truly to catch up to other counties, or to make our employees feel heard and seen and appreciated,” she said.
Retention and Employee Needs
The union argues that low wages have led to retention challenges and financial strain for county employees. Many workers are juggling multiple jobs just to afford basic living expenses, union reps claim, which has contributed to a high turnover rate. Stagnant wages, they say, are a major factor, as employees leave for better-paying opportunities elsewhere. Pitt emphasized, “We have people who work two to three jobs just to make their ends meet.”
At the same time, union representatives acknowledge the county’s financial constraints. Union President Sarah Ireland explained that while they are pushing for a fair contract, county officials have maintained that they simply don’t have the funds to meet all of the union’s demands. “We have some low-paid people in our county that are just trying to survive. So, our goal is to have equitable wages and benefits and to somehow try to not cost the county money that we know they don’t have right now,” Ireland said.
To bridge the gap, the union believes the “me too” clause is a key compromise. This provision would allow AFSCME members to secure an agreement without locking the county into an immediate wage increase. Instead, it ensures county workers receive raises if and when the county is financially able to provide them.
Despite efforts to avoid a strike, Ireland made it clear that the decision ultimately rests with union members. “We don’t want to strike, but at the end of the day, if membership decides that that’s what they want, that’s where we’ll end up.”
County’s Position
In response to inquiries, Humboldt County Information Specialist Cati Gallardo stated, “The County of Humboldt is committed to reaching an agreement with our labor organizations and is working diligently to do so. Since negotiations are ongoing and confidential, we must maintain the integrity of the process. For that reason, we are unable to provide further comment at this time.”
Looking Forward
With no agreement in place, the union is preparing for the possibility that negotiations could reach an impasse. While a strike is not the preferred outcome, Ireland made it clear that it remains on the table if the county fails to meet workers’ needs.
If that happens, Humboldt County residents will feel the effects, Pitt warned. “If we have …1000 members of [the] union decide to strike, this affects social services, public works, a lot of these agencies that community members use every day – much less drive on the roads or otherwise.”
Union representatives stress that their primary goal is to ensure fair treatment for all employees, particularly if the county is able to provide raises for management or other groups.
AFSCME members are now calling on the public to stand with them. The union is encouraging community members to show their support by attending rallies and direct actions held outside the courthouse on Tuesdays. They are also urging residents to contact their representatives and the Board of Supervisors to voice their support for equitable wages and benefits for county employees.
As negotiations continue, both sides must find a way to balance the county’s financial realities with the need to fairly compensate the workers who provide essential public services.
Note: Ireland provided additional clarification that though the me too clause AFSCME had in their negotiations with the county was gutted in 2008, a wage-only version of the clause remained until 2016 when it was completely removed from their agreement with Humboldt County.
“We did have a Me Too clause surrounding wage increases only in 2016. We had me too insisted on being removed in 2016, taking away the last part specific to wages,” Ireland wrote in an email to Redheaded Blackbelt.
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This is what Madrone was referring to when he stated that Measure S taxes went to raises for county government. It wasn’t for the hundreds of small workers who actually provide services but for bonuses and raises for people already making over $100k a year. This is so sad. Approve DTC now. Retroactively approve every small farm under 10k sqft microbusiness status so they can sell their own product. Stop wasting our taxes and let us repair this economy.
Reviving the weed economy will help generate more revenue but reducing costs where possible will also help.
First step should be a minimum 10% cut for all upper management with the Supervisors going first to set an example.
Next, eliminate unnecessary positions starting with the Humboldt County Information Specialist quoted in the article who was unable to say anything!
If the Supes and Dept. Heads can’t speak without filtering it through a do nothing employee they should go too!
Strictly limit out of county travel and the number of employees allowed to take a county car home at night.
DON’T reinstate “me too” — not all employees are created equally — a high school graduate processing food stamp applications is not as valuable as a nurse, heavy equipment operator or Deputy Sheriff.
Stop spending money you don’t have!
A well thought out Plan. Will they listen?
Yeah, I think we need to do a deep dive and also get accountability for where the waste went. When I reviewed salaries from 2016-2019 to figure out where Measure S funds were appropriated, I saw the line item ‘Other pay.’ For many managers, this line item is $20k or more over those 5 years. Mind you, ‘Other Pay’ is not overtime in this case but rather bonuses or stipends. Here’s the definition: The ‘Other Pay’ line item refers to additional compensation that employees receive beyond their base salary. This can include various types of payments such as bonuses, overtime, stipends, allowances, and other forms of extra pay that are not part of the regular salary. And this is happening for most of the managers. What are we paying for?
In the case of the CAO who is in charge of our finances her other pay in 2023 was approximately 40k
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/humboldt-county/elishia-a-hayes/
And the pension debt for Honsel is over a 100k a year we pay him 1/2 million dollars a year.
258,000 including benefits 45 k pension included in 1st #.
$345,370.63
I could not snap full website
That’s a problem with this kind of wage disparity in small organizations like a county.
I’m sure she has worked hard to get where she is, and when you get paid a good salary, it sort of feels like “I’ve worked hard, I deserve this”. Yet it’s a insult to low level employees who make maybe 40 grand net some of them..
and explains why the county can’t retain new employees.
cost of living inflation in the US has almost all legally employed low level employees in the red.
And today wages for the rank and file are little incentive towards participation in the business of civilization
As of February 2025, the average salary for a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) in California is $143,101 per year, or about $68.80 per hour. The majority of CAO salaries in California range from $120,400 to $160,400.
We are the eighth poorest county out of 58 counties in California, and our CAO makes double that figure. They didn’t work that hard.
Total pay & benefits:$345,370.63 ( cut off in above picture)
Look, I don’t work for the county, but have friends who do. I support them getting raises, but I think your line of thinking does more harm than good. I do, however, work in a research industry and when I see testable claims, I test them.
So, $143K seemed low, so I had to fact check your claim. You’re off by $70K for average CAO pay. It’s actually $211K. If you add in the very similar title “County Administrator” you get $246K.
Many counties in California do not have CAOs, they have CEOs instead. Their average salary is $282K.The combined average is $256K in total wages. This data includes people who only worked in the job for part of the year which will skew it downward slightly.
Then you start doing some more assumption checking and learn that there are still more titles. Add those in too and the average creeps up to $263K
If you take all wages paid to every CAO and CEO and divide by 52 (the number of pure CAOs/CEOs in the data set) you get $283K. You need to be sure to grab the whole data set to have accurate figures
We’re right where we should be to be competitive with other counties.
This idea of addition by subtraction will never be successful. Cutting every department head by 10% will save, at best, $301K. Turning that into raises for the 2100 employees will result in $0.07 raises. Giving 2100 people a $1/hr raise costs $4.3M per year in straight wages not to mention increased pension costs, payroll taxes, and other related indirect payroll costs.
You want to get everyone raises, look at what stops the county from raising the needed revenues to maintain operations.
Don’t believe me? Download the data yourself and test it here: https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/RawExport.aspx
Find the list of counties with executives here: https://admin.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ca-roster/2022/counties.pdf
It takes very minimal Excel or SQL skills to get usable data.
Juke, You make a very excellent point! They are all overpaid…
$40k is laughable in CA. That’s minimum wage now. Their wages should not only be enough to survive but eventually buy a home, rent a nicer place, invest, get a new vehicle or move somewhere else. You know, have a life outside of work.
The fat is always at the top of every organization.
Starting Deputy sheriff makes 26.03 per hour in Eureka. Why do they do it ???. Avg pay is 30 to 39.00 and no RESPECT.
That’s is not enough
There was so much waste throughout the legalization fiasco, and so much theft. John Ford and the rest literally stole millions of dollars I bet. My attorney at the time had to go down to the planning department to clear a few things up for me. He told me about the room where they were keeping all our money. Just a normal room, no safe, no oversight, nothing, he wasn’t even sure if the door had a lock, and there was one guy in there with two money counters and bags and bags of all our cash, probably millions of dollars. How could there ever be any accountability in a situation like that?
Well said. I think of a single mom, high school grad working as a a social worker. Her job was to evaluate applicants for welfare benefits. When approved these beneficiaries receive more than her benefit package, to stay on drugs and not work. Our county workers working on the front lines are under payed and unappreciated.
weed economy is a loser for revenue, and always will be unless big dope takes it over.
Big dope has taken it over on a statewide basis but there will always be a market for craft cannabis — it’s an area that can and does contribute to the local economy.
Just to be clear, the me too clause doesn’t guarantee equal pay, but a percentage raise for the union’s county employees.
Yes, I read the story — that’s understood — it’s still a poor policy — entry level and low skill jobs shouldn’t get the same % increase.
The trouble is that government work , until the recent Trump mass firings, tends to be very, very secure work. It comes with pensions, health care and vacations. Itcomes with one of the last effective unions. Which used to be fairly common in non-government work but is now pretty uncommon.
Government of course has the strong advantage of being the maker of rules and regulation. But this protection has been abandoned for most of the general citizenry. The government has for decades turned a blind eye to immigrant labor, especially illegal immigrants labor, which has allowed cheap labor to to suppress rises in wages. Except in the case of government itself which doesn’t hire cheap labor. Only in it’s shunting off what used to be regular employment into contractor who then hire cheaper labor.
It’s hard to have much sympathy for this situation where government only seems to enforce regulations that benefit itself while funding agendas that damage most everyone else. But of course if people benefiting from those agendas have been so conditioned that they support things like the recent sales tax increase to one of the highest in the country, they shouldn’t be surprised that government that the government is frequently in need of more and their solution is to tax the fewer and poorer to support the non-taxed and growing populaces.
Ain’t called a “golden parachute” for nothin
as a long time former union member, unions suck. why pay for the right to work, every job i’ve had post union paid better, and better benefits. they don’t certify qualifications ( like the apprenticeship program), and make it near impossible to fire an incompetent worker.
I don’t think attempting to revitalize the weed economy would be viable anymore. A lot of people moved out of the area and others moved on to other professions. It would also depend on how hard the county would try to gouge everyone(again). The county always wants their pound of flesh, more if they can get it. The biggest problem though, is most of the buyers have also moved on, so it would be more farms competing for a smaller group of consumers. I don’t think most of the buyers would return, so in the end that would probably put all the remaining farms out of business. The rest sounds good though.
Weed will never be what it was in Humboldt but it can be a viable segment of the local economy — no one thing is gonna float Humboldt’s boat.
The main priority should be to establish a regulatory system that isn’t redundant and suffocating the industry: one agency, one inspection, one fee. Let the state take over the process—there’s no reason for Planning and Building to handle anything beyond issuing building permits. One water agency, not three, and so on. The cannabis industry is an area where Doge could actually make a difference. Not that I’m a fan,but at least eliminate redundant agencies instead of laying off park rangers.
Agree the county should step back and let the state be the sole cannabis permitting authority — as it is the county permit means nothing unless the state also approves — let the county focus on building and land use permits.
What Measure S taxes? The voter approved measure has basically been suspended by the supervisors since 2022 to help cannabis farmers.
General rule in government, 20% of employees do 80% of the work. Countywide 50% RIF would hardly be felt by citizens, contracting private service providers generally cheaper than inefficient County operations
This means that if the low level employees get a raise then the BOS will automatically get a raise. A raise, more retirement benefits and health insurance has gone up so there is that expense too. I said a long time ago that the BOS should not be tied into the raises that the county workers get and they shouldn’t be able to raise their own salary.
That is not necessarily how the “me too” clause works. The clause is specifically for the AFSCME contract only. It’s not for all employees (even though it probably should be minus management/BOS).
Dog is correct, according to reps from AFSCME. The me too clause would need to be in the other bargaining unit’s agreements in order for them to also receive a raise when AFSCME members were granted a raise.
Buy more shovels, dig a deeper hole.
Use the road tax money, that’s what usually happens.
Keep chasing off industry, then the county won’t need so many regulators.
Create more incentive for the smart and wealthy people to leave Humboldt and California.
Then wring your hand and wonder why you can’t meet a budget.
Couldn’t have said it better. Oh by the way invite as many homeless and illegals as possible into the county and see how that helps balance your budget as well.
In my experience, Humboldt County employees spend an awful lot of time standing around, playing with their cell phones, jacking off in their pickups, and leaning on their shovels, just like Caltrans Employees and Public Employees everywhere…
I worked in a Contra Costa County Hospital Laboratory where the entire staff took a meal break at 10, 12, 2 and then went home… The Ladies there came to work on Monday Morning with shopping bags full of groceries, and work was a reason to eat, apparently…
All these people get Pensions, and, their work ethic makes a plethora of easy process into a quagmire of waiting around for someone to do anything…
In Lake County, they hire the least qualified, the most related to a current employee, and, the least motivated to any commitment to career growth, continued education or self-betterment…
In Sutter County, they rejoice when someone with a College Degree applies, and whoever that is, will be the Supervisor in 6 months…
Promotions seem to be “whoever is standing around”, and, the experience of working for the State or practically any County Government will turn you into a babbling idiot in about 2 years…
My family is full of people who work for Governments and Colleges and Schools, and I couldn’t hack the apathy, the incompetence, and the attitude of entitlement of State and County employees when I landed a public position… I always moved on to something higher paying and more educational or motivating…
Public Employees have only to wait around, watch the clock, and screw off on their phones, and they will be paid and receive their benefits…
And Unions, you know, if it takes a Union to get you better pay, you got a problem…
Humboldt County is broke, and it is broken…
Elect some new Supervisors, because they are all a pretty poor example of appropriate leadership…
Yes they should only be able to use the computer for work and not to play games or surf the internet. Don’t hire extra help because they are friends with your child and then they get paid and paid well to do nothing. If you need extra help then your staff isn’t doing their jobs!
The county is extremely understaffed in many departments, which is why the majority of extra help positions exist. Many people that work extra help are retired employees.
I remember getting a new boss years ago and he did the same thing Musk is doing. End of the week update on what you did last week. Nobody liked it. It give you a chance to see how little you do each week. And it works. Accountability for the work you do. Love it.
All public employees should have to do this.
A good boss already knows what their employees do on a weekly basis. There is zero need to micromanage.
And if you’re a good boss who doesn’t know what the employee does you should probably let them go.
You and me are the bosses. Remember, WE pay their salaries. I have no idea what they are doing on a weekly basis, except giving themselves raises… do YOU?
Sounds like you’re a terrible boss. Don’t you ever meet with your employees?
Which means you are a terrible boss too…?
Unless… perhaps you are one of my employees? I’m kind of getting that feeling…
A good boss also works alongside their employees. I guess you wouldn’t understand that.
My standards are too high to work for someone like you.
Wrong, a good boss finds and provides work for their employees, ensures their employees complete their jobs and stay on task, makes sure their employees get paid, maintains overhead, keeps the company in good standing and generally works more hours than their employees in order to accomplish that.
if the boss has to work alongside the employees, then their employees suck and need to be fired.
I’ll ask you a blunt question- do you work for the government? If the answer is yes, then you work for me.
Nope, I don’t.
Good leaders work alongside their employees just because. I know it’s hard for you to understand. I bet you have high turnover!
We might be their employers but we aren’t their bosses. We actually pay some of them to manage the whole lot
We need HumDOGE.
Yeah but without the “accidental” removal of things like ebola prevention
Is Ebola a problem in Humboldt county?
You say that until you realize what that means for you. You rely on government programs more than you think.
Which government programs do you think “I like stars” relies on? Please share..
Public works, sheriff department, the airport…. I could go on.
Unfortunately that is true but only because government has insinuated itself into into every nook and cranny of life. And too much of it creates misery for those dragged into dealing with it without any corresponding benefit to them.
That will be fun…let’s fire all the road workers on the theory that some money somewhere wasn’t spent right. Our roads will definitely get better then.
Did I call for the firing of “all the road workers”, or did you just make that up and pretend that’s what I called for? I would hope you could do better than straw man arguments.
I’m extrapolating from how DOGE nationally is working ie let’s kill USAID and incidentally likely lead to deaths of thousands maybe millions by starvation and lose the United States soft power to influence countries. If you like what Doge is doing nationally and internationally, then I’m assuming you like that Forest Service employees are no longer cleaning bathrooms and that Humboldt Doge would lead to a similar lack of services in lots of departments including Public Works.
It would have taken fewer words to just say, “In spite of the UC Berkeley education I sometimes brag about, a straw man argument was the best I had.”
Do you think there is no waste or corruption (that could be eliminated) in Humboldt County government? California state government? US national government? Is government waste and corruption acceptable to you?
I like stars, making a personal dig at me is a much weaker argument than critiquing my comparison between what DOGE is doing nationally and what a Humboldt County version might bring.
I never said there’s no waste in government—federal, state, or local. But eliminating waste doesn’t mean slashing entire programs and firing essential workers, which is exactly what DOGE is doing on a national scale. If you support that approach, then it’s reasonable to consider what it would look like locally—where we could just as easily see critical services, like road maintenance, gutted under the same logic.
You’re welcome to argue against my position, but taking shots at my argument by calling it a strawman won’t strengthen yours. Let me use some of my Berkeley Education to explain what I did isn’t a strawman argument. A strawman argument would be if I misrepresented your position into something extreme and then argued against that distorted version. However, I’m not misrepresenting what you said— I’m drawing a logical comparison between DOGE’s national-level cuts and how a similar approach might impact Humboldt County.
I didn’t claim you explicitly called for firing all road workers. Instead, I extrapolated from your support of DOGE’s approach and applied the same logic to local government. That’s a reasonable inference, not a distortion.
If you disagree with my comparison, you could explain why you thinks DOGE’s approach wouldn’t lead to similar local consequences, rather than resorting to personal jabs.
I don’t like what (nor how) DOGE is doing the purge of government. But I dislike more not purging it of things that are a huge burden with small reward. The old not-throwing-out-the baby-with-the-bathwater only works if indeed there is a baby and it has been appropriately washed in the first place.
There are news articles about USAID having paid, for example, for education on a social agenda like gay or woman’s rights in Afghanistan where those things are non-existent and never going to be effective Or provided condoms for terrorists, or a drag show in Equidor or encouraging atheism in Nepal, or subsidies to help deported immigrants readjust to the places they were returned, etc. The reality seems to be that, while some think than is a good way to spend money and some think it is a horrible way to spend money, money was indeed passed out like candy on such things that was wasted on pipe dreams.
First such things are not widely popular or uncontroversal even in the US but then for the Federal government to spend money on trying to change the mores of other countries? It’s crap. The government has no business doing it when it does not even have a consensus here at home. That’s malfeasance.
Me? I would love to see the government spend that money reducing the massive amount of financial fraud in the US. The fraudulent credit card charges, the bad checks, the stolen identities, the porch pirates, the car break ins, the scofflaw drivers, etc etc etc. Now that would that allow people to pay less for loans and need less for essentially useless police reports and save them something on insurance. But no, let’s fund a DEI initiative in some Balkan country. Kym, it is not a matter of good roads versus agenda ridden foreign aid grants. It’s a matter of having both crappy roads and believing drag shows should not be government funded at all.
https://www.factcheck.org/2025/02/sorting-out-the-facts-on-waste-and-abuse-at-usaid/
https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/press-release/chairman-mast-exposes-outrageous-usaid-and-state-department-grants/
It is not that simple. Somethings make the lives of the citizens better but doing those things does not excuse every burden placed on the public that doesn’t. Every single thing that government pays for should be examined to make sure it benefits the citizenry. And even if government does something that in theory is a benefit, the public needs to think that theoretical benefit worth the cost to them in paying for it before it is touted as a public good.
I would love to live on a road with a surface that doesn’t need me to constantly focus on it so I can avoid damaging my vehicle by dropping into a foot deep pothole or hitting an eight inch shove. But I don’t. Then maybe i would have less scares when some bicycle I didn’t see because the road requires my constant focus suddenly is noticed. But I dont.
So no, needed public roads can not be used to extort me into agreeing that the government spend money in ways I find objectionable.
Weii put.
I’m pretty sure the “Me Too” for AFSCME existed until 2016. I was at county 2012 to 2019, I remember when we lost it.
I’ve asked AFSCME for clarification.
Shannon, according to the local AFSCME president, Sarah Ireland, what was left of me too was cut in 2016. Here is her statement to me regarding the presence of a me too stipulation after 2008. (my understanding is that the full me too clause included matching of other benefits as well prior to 2008):
We did have a Me Too clause surrounding wage increases only in 2016. We had me too insisted on being removed in 2016, taking away the last part specific to wages.
The big thing we are experiencing now is the county forecasting and broadcasting to the community it will have no general fund reserves in a couple years, telling us no way to increase wages for cost of living, but then clearly contemplating wage increases for themselves and others. This is a total disrespect for workers providing essential services for the community and people in need throughout the pandemic and every day.
It follows the past in how they insisted we couldn’t have a wellness incentive (which was a $1,000 a year benefit offered to management positions, that allowed them to purchase, and be reimbursed for items related to fitness) and the tradeoff would be wages for u — only for them to give themselves and management both higher wages and the wellness incentive.
Sarah Ireland
President, AFSCME Local 1684
Me. Too? WTF is that?
This is America. If you don’t make enough money, make MORE money…
Tony Soprano loved Unions too…
Fuck your Union, bunch of Parasites…
The Admin is overpaid everywhere, so clearly, you need to aim higher…
Union Leaders are always the fattest crooks in the room…
Tell us that you didn’t read the article without telling us that you didn’t read the article. And also tell us that you know nothing about the local AFSCME hierarchy without telling us you know nothing.
The union president makes less a third of what the Sheriff does.
Tell us you didn’t believe the agenda included in the article without saying you don’t.
I am afraid you are misinformed…
Union Fatcats disgust me, I have been a “member” of AFSCME, and another Union, which was a branch of the Retail Clerks Union, and also, in the Teamsters…
Unions are for people who have no mobility, education or decent sense.
Unions are for those lacking marketable skills, and the ability to negotiate.
If there’s a Union, I don’t apply for the job any more…
Which part am I misinformed on?
You asked what Me Too was, and if you had read the article you wouldn’t have had to ask.
You stated that Union Leaders are always the fattest crooks in the room and I advised you that The AFSCME Union president makes less than a third of what the Sheriff does which is easily proven since employee salaries are posted as public information on Transparent CA:
Sarah C Ireland
Eligibility Supervisor (2023)
Regular pay:$70,859.00Overtime pay:$18,686.00Other pay:$4,793.00Total pay:$94,338.00William F Honsal
Elected Sheriff (2023)
Regular pay:$233,717.00Overtime pay:$0.00Other pay:$24,516.00Total pay:$258,233.00Not counting the rest of it $70,859.00 is factually less than 1/3 of $233,717.00, and even counting the rest of it it’s barely over a third.
I know Sarah’s overtime comes from working a ton of Saturdays to help allow workers to catch up on the backlog of cases that need to be processed, which means Humboldt County residents are getting their benefits sooner than if she was only working regular hours. So the overtime is completely justified.
But again, where am I misinformed?
I think any raise to BOS should be a voted on item by the people not the BOS. Cut it in half and lets move on. 55k to do nothing seams good to me .
The BOS isn’t part of AFSCME, so while I agree with you it isn’t really relevant to what this article is about.
Maybe they should NOT buy new cars every year for all their employees to park all day, then drive home. This county has always been poor, but BOS and the Sheriff get paid enormous salaries while the Dept of Human Services that handles In Home Health Services and actually HELPS PEOPLE is understaffed and underpaid. Dysfunction always starts at the top. Cut your salaries, no more raises!!!
Why is the County Superintendent of Schools making over $200,000/year when we have no money for schools?! Start cutting and hacking away at the top. The supervisors make half what that clown does and they still make too much. Anybody hanging out at a county job and not working much?- Fire them now. Time to get mean and lean…
Maybe if we still had an Auditor Controller who was transparent this would happen. Instead we have one that was appointed after the county used tax payer funds to legally strong arm the previous one out
The auditor controller has nothing to do with HCOE. The County government has no say or control over the office of education. They are completely different entities.
I was referring to hacking away at the top. Thanks for clarifying though
Maybe in the bureaucratic mind they are separate issues but in the taxpayers’ minds they are related.
The entire county office of education should be eliminated. They are and needless level of bureaucracy.
We need to get rid of these people before they do more damage to our economy.. these people are idiots. Not leaders.
The County Superintendent of Schools and Office of Education are their own bureaucracy and not part of the county budget — I’m sure there’s room for improvement but cutting them won’t save the county any money and would likely reduce some services to county schools — what’s needed is a deep dive into what they actually do and if it’s cost effective.
HCOE is not overseen by the County.
See:
> https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/school-districts/humboldt/humboldt-county-office-of-education/
your point? The county of Humboldt doesn’t oversee the office of education in any way. They are different entities.
That is true. Just posted the link to salaries… so you can see where the money er… ‘goes’.
True but not relevant. People only know the money they have left after being taxed in it’s many forms and the value of what they get in return. And those things have been heading off a cliff in both directions.
Hell no. No more raises. In fact if these incompetent people at the top can’t justify their salaries, such as balancing a budget or passing an audit, then they should be penalized in the form of a pay cut. Our tax dollars are not meant to be spent on bloated salaries, they are meant to go towards needs of the taxpayers. All of our tax money gets usurped by the upper management and never trickles down to the people of the community. We need to remember that these people work for us, we pay their salaries, and we have the right to fire them. Part of their job should be a weekly report of what how they are spending our tax dollars.
Couldn’t we put up a voter initiative to reduce their salaries AND cap them?
So what you’re saying is that you’re ok with the workers at Social Services- the people who process eligibility for CalFresh, Medi-Cal, CalWorks, Foster Care, Welfare to Work, Employment and Training, etc. having to work two or three job or be on these benefits themselves? Because that’s what’s being negotiated here.
People complain about how long it takes to get their benefits, but that is 100% due to staffing issues because the pay isn’t worth the stress when you can go work at In n Out for a higher starting pay.
No it’s not. Such sweeping generalities could easily be the fault of the bureaucracy and government. It is ridiculous to say that paying someone more results in them doing more. Are you saying that these poor overworked people would holding back? Maybe, just maybe, the government has demanded more than it can pay for.
Those poor overworked people are working hard and trying to keep up with the amount of work that would still be available with double the staff. I’m saying that no one is holding back, but workers are getting burnt out and I know of at least one worker at DHHS who quit working at their call center and went to work for Target because it was less work for the same pay.
Here’s some data on the salaries… including extras, overtime, pension etc.
Read the right hand column.
> https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/humboldt-county/
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> https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/arcata/
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> https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/eureka/
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> https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/school-districts/humboldt/humboldt-county-office-of-education/
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> https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/college-redwoods/
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Go figure.
Our Library operations Manager Ronda Wittenburg makes 268,000 in other pay her salary is 81,000.
‘Library Operations Manager’ search results | Transparent California
Dang, she makes 3x her salary in other pay, what is that “other pay”?
Well, I thought it was similar to the current Auditor-Controller, Cheryl Dillingham, who returned from retirement but in the capacity of an elected official. This allowed her to receive both a salary and a pension. However, the Library Operations Manager is not an elected official. So, what’s going on here? It also seems like ‘other pay’ increased significantly for many individuals between 2014 and 2016, jumping from around $10K to $50K. Is this where the Measure S taxes were allocated?
The “Other Pay” line item on Transparent California refers to compensation that doesn’t fall under regular salary, overtime, or lump-sum pay. It can include various forms of additional payments, such as:
Where are these individuals traveling to, and what are they doing to receive $50K in retention or incentive bonuses? John Ford received a 15% pay raise to remain with the county, despite being responsible for failing to regulate the cannabis market in a responsible and productive manner. He oversaw the economic destruction, and multiple lawsuits are being fought because of his missteps, the costs of which are being borne by taxpayers
It’s mostly not travel reimbursements. In 2023 county employees received up to $200/mo towards their health insurance payments. And the county has to pay for a lot ongoing training (which is why offices are closed for training once a year) through outside agencies.
I would imagine what little accounts for travel reimbursements would be for things like the small group went to a state symposium for CalFresh.
Thank you for your insight. I agree that $2,400 per year for health insurance and county training is not what these line items represent. I do not believe that employees assisting people with CalFresh are the problem within our county government. Are these incentive bonuses? Are managers really receiving $50,000 of taxpayer money as motivation to do their job? If these are indeed incentive bonuses, they should be transparent and tied to measurable outcomes. How is the county justifying annual incentive bonuses for the same employees year after year?
I’ll be honest that I have no idea what is going on with the “other pay”. I just looked at my record for 2023 and in spite of knowing that I got the health insurance incentive it says I received $0 other pay. I’ll be curious to see what 2024 says once it’s updated as I received my longevity raise in December and I’m wondering if that will show as regular wages or “other”.
There’s a lot of things that are wonky with our budget, but I will say that the majority of AFSCME members are just the lowly workers and not the people who seem to be benefiting the most. The BOS for instance isn’t AFSCME.
I looked at the wage schedule. People are not being compensated fairly to do the majority of the actual labor.
We also have some serious wage I equality and if you guys do strike maybe consider unifying your voices to also address some of the systemic issues. The public will back you if your message is strong
Don’t be surprised when the employees fail to stir up support from the general public, most of whom can only dream of the salary and benefits “earned” by county employees — especially retirement— the threat to strike also rings hollow since county admin and supervisors will see it as salary savings — yes, services will suffer but does anyone think the CAO and BOS cares about that?
The BOS will care when their constituents stop getting their benefits and start telling them to do something.
I’d bet there’s a rational explanation for what you’re trying to imply is nefarious. Why don’t you PRA county HR or the Auditor-Controller and see what happened there. I don’t know where payroll is right now after all the trading back and forth.
Well, I really hope there is. However, given the current situation, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to suspect that something nefarious might be happening. The lack of transparency regarding where the Measure S funds have gone, who they were collected from, and the allocation of abatement fees has been suspicious. Are we really supposed to believe that the accountants in the Planning and Building Department kept no record of cash receipts? And that there are no records of how the funds were spent either? Moreover, the audit for 2016-2019 still isn’t finished, and we have no insight into how the funds collected during that time period benefitted the public.
Unfortunately, PRA records involving employees rarely reveal much beyond the date and a few words, with everything else redacted. The county should provide a detailed breakdown of what the ‘other’ salary items entail. What are we, the taxpayers, funding in addition to their wages?
No way to raises without TRANSPARENCY.
If and when the unionized workers decide to strike, you will gain substantial public support if you also demand transparency and the release of that audit. This will resonate with both citizens and those who are not benefiting from the wage inequality within our local system. Do us all a favor and help eliminate the deeply rooted inequality and lack of accountability in our local government. Those are tax dollars that were supposed to support drug treatment, mental health, infrastructure, and reinvest into our local economy. Your tax dollars were wasted as well.
Perhaps it will even help balance the budget, eliminate waste, and create more opportunities for equitable wages for everyone.
That audit would also give us insight into this
“If you recall, that lawsuit originated from an anonymous whistleblower complaint, brought forth in 2018, that exposed a laundry list of regulatory compliance issues stemming from past management practices of the county’s six-airport system, which was previously under the purview of Public Works. These violations ranged from excessively cheap lease agreements with other county departments to the misuse and inappropriate diversion of airport revenue, among other issues.”
Former Deputy County Counsel Calls Out ‘Hazing’ Culture, ‘Boyz Club’ in Humboldt Department of Public Works, Seeks $1.4 Million in Damages | Lost Coast Outpost | Humboldt County News
1:23-cv-02836.
Thw cou ty has been so mismanaged for so many decades it is probably past the point of no return
Why do you need all those full time county supervisors for what ever they are getting paid? No small sum last I checked. County is small they dont need them full time and cut their wages to boot.
Before I dig myself into a hole, everyone deserves a livable wage. I believe this to my very core. I just wonder at the motivation of a line in this. I am also a concerned taxpayer reading that the county that I help fund may run out of money in a couple of years. I don’t work at the county and all of these figures are very high level estimates based on what I can extract out of publicly available wages data.
Let’s look at the supervisors’ raise that they mentioned in this article. The way they mentioned it seems to place it as a target for 5 years of raises. That raise works out to 24.7%. I’ll round to 25%, 5% per year over 5 years to make the math a bit easier.
The 2023 median wage was $54,226 for county employees. The modal wage was $44,567. The mean was $58,189. I analyzed using both median and modal wages, but median is probably the most accurate.
Before I dive too far off into the analysis, let’s look at the cost of those raises. They work out to an additional $108,095 per year.
Now, let’s look at the impacts of the same raises county-wide for AFSCME. I’ll make an assumption that 50% of the county’s estimated 2100 person workforce is represented by AFSCME and there are no other unions try to get the same or better to keep the problem simple.
All that laid out, the modal average results in a first-year increase in wages only of $2.3M, year 2: $2.5M, year 3: $2.6M, year 4: 2.7M and Year 5: $2.8M. A gross increase of $12.9M annually.
The median average is worse. 1: $2.9M, 2: $2.5M, 3: $3.1M, 4: $3.3M and 5: $3.5. A gross increase of $19.4M annually.
The supervisors’ raise is 0.8% of the dollar value of AFSCME’s seeming demand. How does AFSCME expect the county to pay the other millions per year?
If this isn’t the goal, and they’re saying AFSCME should have gotten those dollars, let’s do that math. That works out to an extra $0.05/hr per AFSCME employee following the assumption from this post that half of all county employees are AFSCME. If my employer gave me a nickel raise, I’d quit on the spot because it would be insulting.
If they’re saying it’s a bad message, then they’re probably right. I would be interested to learn if AFSCME employees got any raises in those years and what the difference between their raises and the supervisors’ raise percentages were.
I will say it again no more raises until the citizens get Transparency. I think we deserve to know where our money is spent before any government employee gets another raise. There is no incentive to change without it.
How was the airport revenue misappropriated and who was responsible were they fired?
And furthermore, Juke, I agree with you—everyone does deserve a livable wage, including the people who were put out of business by Measure S taxes and the punitive permit system. As well as all of the people who worked for the 15,000 farms that were once operating in this county. Where did our money go?
…and you know who else? The people who were abated didn’t deserve to lose their livelihoods, and in some cases, their lives, when everything was taken from them by the county. Our rural residents didn’t deserve for our real estate market to crash or for our land to become untouchable.
.
Wilson gets $6,800 more for sitting on the California Coastal Commission.
Arroyo gets paid for being a Coasty.
Madrone gets paid by Calpoly as a lecturer.
I have no idea what Bohn or Bushnell receive in other income.
I agree our Supes are overpaid.
A huge part of the problem I’m seeing with the comments here is that people don’t realized that AFSCME doesn’t represent all county workers. The BOS is not AFSCME. The Sheriff’s Department is not AFSCME. Etc. Here are the different bargaining units:
https://humboldtgov.org/2494/Labor-Agreements
What AFSCME is asking is that if the Sheriff’s employees get a raise, we do to. Because for years other bargaining units have been granted raises while we haven’t. It’s really hard to fill vacancies or keep staff when the pay is not equitable to the work that is done and they can go find a better paying job elsewhere. And not having enough people doing the grunt work really does hurt everyone (ask anyone who has tried to call Social Services and ends up with a wait time of hours).
If you think I’m exaggerating take a look at the pay schedules for the last few years, and compare what AFSCME jobs were getting for an increase in wages, VS what other bargaining units were. The only real jump was for the Eligibility Specialist position which was done because of how badly workers were needed.
https://humboldtgov.org/2908/Compensation-Schedule
The article says that two thirds are covered under AFSCME. Maybe those who aren’t need to change unions.
There has always been a balance between private employment, with its insecurity, arbitrary job requirements, lesser benefits and poor retirement and government work, with guaranteed government employee job standards, vacation, salary, health insurance, retirement, etc. Only if the the salaries drop significantly below avaiable private employment does pay really become a significant issue.
Of course the cycles for government employees and private employee stress is off sync. Government relies on taxes from private work to pay its employees. When the economy has taken a hit, then there are less taxes to pay its employees. Private work has not yet recovers from the disruptions of the pandemic shut downs. It was gain8ng but government’s hunger for regulation has made it slow and uneven. And unfortunately, government arrogance in imposing its will on the public has created a fair amount of anger. Few at the moment want to pay more for government that has not acted in their best interest. Maybe government need to pull back its reach rather than demand more to expand it.
You didn’t look at either of the links I posted did you?
If you look at the different bargaining units for the county there’s AFSCME, CAA (the attorneys union), HDSO (Sheriff), LEM (Law Enforcement), M&C (Management and Confidential), IHSS, and Elected Officials and Department heads. IF you work for the county, you fall under one of these labor agreements. And it’s based on what job you do, so you don’t get a choice.
If you go through the current compensation schedule it opens as an excel document, and you can sort it. Sort it by pay and you’ll find that the lowest paid employees are all AFSCME. In fact, you have to go through over 100 positions before you get to one that isn’t AFSCME. The first 25 or so positions start at $0.03/hr above minimum wage. Why would someone want one of those jobs when they can go work at In-n-Out starting at $20/hr (almost $4 more)?
What AFSCME is trying to bargain for is equity. For the BOS to stop giving themselves, or the Sheriff, huge raises without giving at least a better than 1% raise to AFSCME workers.