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By Ron Donoho
(page 1 of 2)
Bill Horn just wanted to right a wrong. In this case, the victims of injustice were Horn and his colleagues serving on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. On April 23, to the surprise of nearly everyone present at a board meeting, Horn proposed a pay hike for himself and the four other supervisors. The sum of $108,979 per year was no longer adequate. Horn figured a 25 percent jump to $136,224 would make the world right again.“Look, I came to this board with money, and I’ll leave with money,” he says. “I came from the private sector. ... The issue here is not about money—it’s about fairness. There are 280 senior executives in county government that make more than we do. And the pay for the Board of Supervisors ought to be equal to the head of the new airport authority. We do 300 times what the airport authority will do.”
The not-yet-named executive director of the not-yet-formed airport authority, which will run Lindbergh Field, is slated to make $133,000 a year. Perhaps Horn’s constituents should feel lucky they’re getting a bargain. Assuming he does “300 times” the chores assigned to the new airport exec, you’d have to extrapolate that a county supervisor deserves $39.9 million a year.
“I understand that people don’t make this much money, and all those issues,” says Horn. “But we are five directors of a $3.7 billion budget. If this were a private company, these salaries wouldn’t be an issue. My colleagues’ performance—including mine—has been outstanding.”
As evidence of the board’s outstanding performance, Horn continually points to a “report card” issued by Governing magazine. “Governing determined us to be the best in California,” notes Horn.
You may not have Governing on your coffee table. But the Washington, D.C.–based monthly publication has a national circulation of 86,000, a primary audience of state and local government officials and has thrice been nominated for National Magazine Awards. A thumbs-up from Governing is worth bragging about.
The magazine’s report cards for 40 U.S. counties were issued in February. San Diego County got an A– in financial management; an A– in capital management; a B– in human resources; an A– in managing for results; and a B+ for information technology. Overall grade: B+.
Only two counties finished with a better grade. At the top of the curve was Fairfax, Virginia, which got an A or A– in every category. Fairfax is a (pricey) bedroom community to the nation’s capital. It has a population just under a million, and Governing lists its annual revenue at $2.8 billion.
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