Union Backs Ballot Measure to Reduce San Bernardino Supervisors’ Positions to Part-Time

The San Bernardino County Safety Employees’ Benefit Association has announced that it is supporting a ballot measure proposal that would turn the county’s board of supervisors into part-time elected officials. With part-time status, supervisors would see their pay and benefits cut. The union, SEBA, represents more than 3,100 of the county’s public safety employees. The decision to support the controversial ballot measure is seen by some board members as intimidation, as supervisors contend the union doesn’t want to see any pension reforms.  Supervisor Janice Rutherford commented, “Clearly, unions are used to getting their way. They're (SEBA) angry at the thought to pension reform happening, so they're trying to bully the board and they're used to it. They've done that for a long time in this county."

The county agreed to draft a ballot measure that would require voters to approve any pension increases for county workers. The San Bernardino County Public Employees Association as well as SEBA are in opposition to this change.

Supervisors have been critical of the part-time ballot measure, and it would certainly be unusual for a county of San Bernardino’s size to have supervisors that are considered part-time. The Press Enterprise reports on the measure’s specifics:

“The ballot measure does not specify the amount of hours that supervisors could work but cuts their pay from $151,971 a year to $60,000 a year. It also reduces their combined budget for staff and office expenses from $6 million to $250,000 a year. The measure was first proposed by a group calling itself Committee to Reform San Bernardino County Government in September. But the backing of SEBA, one of the most influential players in county politics, instantly raised the profile of the proposal.”

If the initiative is to qualify for the ballot, 43,500 signatures must be gathered. You can read the ballot measure’s proposed text here.