The San Benito County Board of Supervisors on May 23 discussed possible options that might provide cost-savings through consolidations of the elective offices of auditor-controller and treasurer-tax collector. By the end of the discussion, nothing was done in lieu of a wait-and-see approach about what happens should Mary Lou Andrade, county tax collector-treasurer, choose whether to run for re-election.
According to county records, what led up to the May 23 discussion were three supervisor retreats in 2016-2017, where the board reaffirmed its commitment to pursue legislation authorizing the county to consolidate these positions. The county requested identical legislative authority that was previously granted to several other counties.
After Ray Espinosa, county administrative officer, discussed this topic with Assemblywoman Anna Caballero in Dec. 2016, the county requested her assistance in attaining a legislative solution to resolve the financial challenges the county was experiencing, followed up by a letter of support from the supervisors was sent to Caballero.
The county is presently limited in its authority to adopt ordinances to consolidate county offices. If Caballero decides to help, the county hopes to be able to follow the example of 12 other counties and consolidate its finance functions.
While salary savings could be reaped by the elimination of the treasurer-tax collector department head position, any savings would be reduced by the need to create an additional full-time employee position to oversee the newly created treasurer-tax collector division, according to a county background document. Additionally, the auditor and the assessor could seek compensation for their newly assigned duties, which may or may not be granted when the board approves the salary structure of the newly consolidated elected offices.
Supervisor Mark Medina said when he hears the word “consolidation,” it means there needs to be more efficiency along with hard-dollar cost savings.
“When I look at what we’ve done in the past when the RMA (Resource Management Agency) office was consolidated,” he said, “was that a win or a loss? The jury is still out. Then I look at the workload, which has to go somewhere. This workload would go to a full-time county employee that would be more expensive than an elected official simply because with an elected official there is no sick leave, there is no vacation.”
Medina said he spends a lot of time studying California’s 58 counties and the vast majority have not chosen to consolidate.
“I don’t see it becoming more efficient or a savings, so I’m opting to keep the positions as-is,” he said.
Supervisor Anthony Botelho said he was not looking only at the top positions when considering consolidation possibilities. He wanted to look at efficiencies from top to bottom. He said the difficulties in the Planning Department (three out of five positions are not filled) are representative of a county-wide problem.
“One of the biggest complaints I hear from our employees is the (lack) of opportunity for upward mobility, training and promotions,” he said. “It’s not so much about cost savings. We’ve had problems in the past keeping the doors open for the taxpayers during lean staffing times. By combining departments, you have more people to draw from and services could be rendered a lot more effectively.”
Botelho said he supported the option of consolidation, anticipating Tax Collector-Treasurer Mary Lou Andrade’s possible retirement when the next election cycle takes place.
“I want to make sure we maintain some flexibility on how to best serve our citizens, so I’d like to have that option,” he said, “so, we should ask for Assemblywoman Caballero to consider the bill in two years.”
Espinosa suggested the board try to get a bill approved this year in order to give the board the flexibility about which Botelho was concerned. He said if they were not able to do so, the bill would most likely be stalled as long as five years.
Supervisor Jerry Muenzer said he viewed the issue as part of a long process that the county has been going through. He said when he became a supervisor, the county was negotiating with Hollister to consolidate law enforcement and it was decided that would not work.
“We were also in negotiations with them on fire and we consolidated with the city,” he said. “We also looked at consolidating Health and Human Services and Behavioral Health and we decided that was not a good fit. We looked at RMA, which was Building, Public Works and Integrated Waste and decided that was a good fit (RMA’s director suddenly left and two consultants were hired to organized the agency).”
Muenzer said that during the great recession, employees pleaded that the board not attempt to balance the budget solely at their expense, but if cuts were needed they should also be from the top.
“We have done that in some instances,” he said. “This is just a continuation of that. All these things we’ve looked at did not need action from Sacramento. For this particular one, we do need action from Sacramento to act on our behalf, and then we can look at this again to either go forward with it or decide it is not a good fit.”
Supervisor Robert Rivas said that having worked with Caballero, he understood her expectations.
“I can guarantee she will want to know why this is necessary and what do we gain from this,” he said. “This is the type of issue that can turn very ugly. It makes it look like we’re trying to buy Mary Lou (Andrade). Are we? I don’t know. That’s why we need a deep level of engagement from every single person, from Mary Lou and all the elected officials this impacts.”
Rivas said the county should not depend on Caballero to make a decision that could result in personnel issues in the county, which he described as a losing proposition for her and the county. He said they shouldn’t look at other counties for guidance because each operates differently and the board needs to do what is best for San Benito County.
“Knowing Anna, she’s going to want to know that we put in the effort and that we’re sending her a solid plan and not one that’s driven by local politics,” he said.
Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz told Rivas that the discussion they were having was all about local politics. Rivas said work needed to begin at the local level and that he agreed Medina’s assessment best described the need to look for cost efficiencies and reiterated a need to have broader discussions with everyone involved, so “it doesn’t look like we’re trying to fire Mary Lou.”
“We need to approach this delicately, but I know time is not in our favor,” Rivas said. “We must do everything we can to prepare the assemblywoman with as much information as she needs.”
De La Cruz said that since they were talking about her position, he asked Andrade if she would like to make a public comment. Andrade said government is “by and for the people” and that the offices under discussion are voted in by the local electorate and they should have a choice.
“It should be put on a future ballot,” she said. “That’s my feeling about it. As far as efficiencies, most departments are strapped because they don’t have the staffing. If you staff the departments properly then you’ll have efficiencies. If we care enough about our departments, which I certainly do, we will make every effort to make them as efficient as possible.”
Andrade told the board that her department has not been staffed properly for more than 10 years. She said other departments have assistants and she has had none during those 10 years.
“I’m doing the best I can and if you’d staff me properly I’m going to do better,” she said, and then listed several reasons against consolidation, the first being that it would violate county ordinances and voters’ rights. She claimed cross-savings do not exist and that the personnel qualifications for treasurer and auditor are distinctly different disciplines that require years of training and experience.
“This also is a significant financial power concentration,” she cautioned. “With one person overseeing all the financials, which takes away checks and balances.”
Lastly, she said independence and accountability would be violated.
“If one person was in charge of all the financials, the board could be easily pressured by that person to do it their way or no way,” she reasoned.
Without elaboration, Joe Paul Gonzalez, county clerk-auditor-controller, took the position that he stands ready to do whatever the board directs him to do.
Tom Slavich, county assessor, said he originally thought consolidation was a good idea, but since talking with his peers in other counties, he believes the offices should remain independent.
“In Merced County they combined assessor, clerk and recorder of elections several years ago and they’re contemplating separating those offices in the future,” he said. “My main concern is for the assessor’s office because we have a lot of stuff going on in the county. The other issue is we’re the only county in the state where the assessor’s office manages the waste management program, which is normally done by Building and Planning. Back in 1968, they asked if we could do it temporarily and we’ve been doing it ever since.”
During public comments, Richard Ferreira, cautioned the board, “if it’s not broke don’t fix it,” explaining that as a user of county services the board should not be trying to consolidate the offices under discussion.
“I like it that they are elected officials and people have a choice,” he said. “You consolidated Public Works and the Building Department and I tell you it’s a disaster. You get somebody in there who is not an elected official and the public will have lost any input they may have had. These three individuals (Andrade, Gonzalez, Slavich) have done a great job. We have had no problems with our elections. There are enough problems in your other departments, especially Public Works and Building that you’re trying to address. Put more time on that. This is something we need not even talk about.”
Apparently De La Cruz was swayed by the comments he heard.
“Because this doesn’t really have the full board’s support, I’m not going to support talking to Anna Caballero,” he said. “I think Supervisor Rivas is right about policies and politics. I’m inclined to take his advice on this and don’t do anything. If Mary Lou does decide to run for reelection, we can revisit it in two years and, hopefully, we can get the support of Anna Caballero.”
The rest of the board concurred and the item was shelved for the time being.