For those who questioned the pay raise for Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze, we contacted the Sheriff who offered a response.
Sheriff Lutze explained that the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association and the Law Enforcement Administrators Association have received what are called certificates which equal a 5% pay raise upon completion of certain training and education. His officers, through their agreements with Inyo County have received these pay increases and some officers made as much or close to the salary of the Sheriff. The ordinance approved by the Inyo Supervisors raises the Sheriff’s compensation by those raises offered to other officers.
The raise approved took the Sheriff’s monthly salary from $8,559 to $10,699. The last pay raise for the Inyo Sheriff’s position took place in the 90s. Sheriff Lutze said his pay still lags behind a number of small counties. He also noted that he is responsible for roughly 125 employees and volunteers, the Sheriff’s Department, the Jail, Emergency Services, Veterans Services and Animal Control.
Other County Department heads’ salaries with no pay hikes were listed in the agenda item which referred to an ordinance that includes officials’ salaries, but not the pay of the Board of Supervisors.
In that item, A table lists department heads’ monthly salaries as of July 18, 2013. The Assessor – $7,431. The Auditor/Controller – $8,174. The Clerk/Recorder – $6,955. The Coroner – $2,000. The District Attorney – $9,807. The Public Administrator – $5,017. The Sheriff – $10, 699. And, the Treasurer/ Tax Collector – $7,431.
In later news, we will report on current department head salaries in other local governments of the Eastern Sierra.
“Mark: Private business owner since 1980. ” And the only reason you have been able to do that is that you had government provided police and fire protection, reliable 24 hour electricity, reliable water you could drink without getting sick, air you could breath without fatal consequences, building codes that… Read more »
It is truly wonderful that we live in this Best of All Possible Worlds that has been nurtured throughout most of the last billion years by the benevolent government that oversees us and delivers us from evil. Come on, Ken! Of course we benefit from society, and most of us… Read more »
There is a growing movement in America today. Some are incensed at all forms of government. They think people employed by the government are bad, make too much money, and therefore nothing good whatsoever can ever come from the government. If these hate-mongers had somebody to vote for – (I… Read more »
Note:
No presidential conservative front-runners presented.
The very ideas the Tea Party advocate makes you want to vomit. Thank goodness most Americans are repelled by their ideology. They were never anything more than a tool of Sal Russo to advance the interests of his wealthy clients at Russo, Marsh and Rogers. They organized the Tea Party,… Read more »
“But ‘beggar on a street corner’?” Try going without any public service and see how long it takes to get eaten for dinner. No, our government, our society, individual members of society are not perfect. But they are better than most. Even with all the jerks you meet on a… Read more »
It’s true. None of us could lead the lives we lead if a million other Americans didn’t go to work each day, play by the rules and do their jobs more or less correctly the great majority of the time. There would be no electricity to any small isolated community… Read more »
All those things you speak of, they have been there for all of us. Yet people like Mark are the ones who have shouldered the burden of paying for them, and people like Mark are the ones who have provided jobs and services to their fellow citizens while carrying that… Read more »
Tourbillon has said it better than I did. The benefits of living in a civilized society didn’t spring into being by an act of the collective will. They were bought and paid for by the efforts of productive members of the society. They do indeed ‘build that’. It’s a mistake… Read more »
Any idea how long it takes to get rid of a bad elected official?
Not till 2016.
I have no problem paying taxes. Never have. No matter what party is in office. The benefits far outweigh not having some extra money to buy what? Another suit? More food?
How about YOU Tourbillon?
Are you enjoying the benefits of MY tax dollars?
Gives the word “public servant” a whole new meaning.
The average deputy in LA County makes $100k a year with some overtime. $120k for a department head with 125 employees to manage is not unreasonable even is a rural county. I am more interested in why there has been no cost of living adjustments since the 90’s. In private… Read more »
I appreciate the “Serve and Protect” theme a majority of law enforcement uphold. I don’t agree with half of the justice system, I am just a pawn in this world so I understand this is only my opinion and nothing more. LA county is way more dangerous then Inyo county.… Read more »
Just playing devils advocate and wanted to bring up a point. Sure Inyo county is a lot “safer” than LA County. But we still have murders, rapes, burglaries, and more domestic violence and alcohol related calls for service than you could possibly imagine. LA county has 20+ Deputies on per… Read more »
On his radio show, Conservative kingpin Rush Limbaugh said that police and firefighters are nice to have, but they take away from private sector jobs and contribute nothing to the economy.
See what happens to your economy when you have no police and the laws are not enforced.
Ol’ Rush fears the cops will get in the way of his drug habit.
Whew! Only 6 “thumbs-downers” for Rush Limbaugh (whom buckskinned author, attorney and freedom-fighter, Gerry Spence, once called: “A people-hater, adored by people-haters.”)
There is hope. And, of course, sooner or later the nutty, grizzled, angst-ridden Tea Party people … simply die off.
Point taken, When it gets to the point when it seems local law enforcement seek out crime. I can stand seeing resources wasted when there is no real deliverable to the people it is meant to serve. Yes we have crime here, Yes we need law enforcement here, NO we… Read more »
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz……..
Thank you J-Frog, for the brilliant anti-authority speech.
However, I feel more comfortable picking and choosing what feels best for me on each occasion that might present itself.
govt gone wild.
just keep spending money you will never have.
Where was upthecreek during the nasty Bush/Cheney years where bogus reasons to invade Iraq went unheeded, American lives were lost, and the country is now bankrupted trying to pay for the mess that only made Cheney’s Halliburton and Lockheed Martin defensive contractor pals filthy rich. So, where the hell ARE… Read more »
Maybe if Bush were still President (you may have missed it, but he left office five years ago), the federal debt would still be shy of $12 trillion (FY 09, Bush’s last year), instead of $16 trillion in FY 12 projected to rise another trillion each year for the remainder… Read more »
Yeah the current presidency has been taking on a lot of BUSH era policy’s and put them on steroids. Have you seen how much we spend on defense? or how much we loose due to tax havens for the mega rich? Yeah thanks to bush and his predecessor obama =… Read more »
Notice how Tourbillon wants to gloss over those nasty Cheney/Bush years that bankrupted the country and may never recover from.
I think the country did not miss the fact that this terrible regime left office 5 years ago, Tourbillon.
LOL!
@upthecreek –
Are you referring to the Bush/Cheney “Let’s go to war on Iraq and find them WMDs that I know are hidden somewhere while spending money you will never have” debacle?
Actually, the county is one of the few counties in CA, or the nation for that matter, who is in the “green”. If we want to speak about giving raises, lets talk about Kevin Carunchio, the County Administrator. Sheriff Lutze has refused raises the entire time he has served our… Read more »
Thanks for the explanation, I still don’t see a justification in these tough times. It’s not like 100,000 dollars a year is chump change, yes of course 120k is way better, but how is our county any better from the last sheriff? Correct me if I’m wrong. So it is… Read more »
There will always be people like J-Frog, who have a gigantic problem with ALL government employees, regardless of their position and responsibilities. Because they most likely did not see (or flatly ignored) the downturn in the economy, failed to plan accordingly, and now are so enraged that they think the… Read more »
Getting what you pay for – You should stick to sharing your own thoughts. Who are you to say someone has a gigantic problem with anything. Your comment is nothing more then a speculative assumption and has nothing to do with what J-Frog may or may not think. Right or… Read more »
I wonder what “Mark” is doing for his country/state/county/town to make it a better place – other than whine about how much public employees earn?
Lots of Larry Johnston(ism) going around.
Private business owner since 1980. Never been on the public dole in my life. I have to run my business in black ink, I can’t just raise taxes when things get tough. I have to make cuts even when there’s no fat to cut. I’m for smaller government across the… Read more »
Why not Mark? You have probably been cheating their family members out of overtime by calling a gas station attendant a “manager” so you can get out of paying them overtime, or maybe you have taken cash register errors out of their pay, both practices are very illegal but I… Read more »
Talk about “holier than thou.”
BK
Maybe not all Gov’t employees, but anything that continues to prop up these broken systems we have in place, like monetary system, legislative system, judicial system, Or anything that feeds into this “illusion of freedom” We are as free as our purchasing power allows us to be! At least the… Read more »
Sounds to me that “J-Frog” has been in the swamp for too long a time. Perhaps, undereducated, did not/is not putting enough rainy-day money away and is now angry and wondering how he/she is going to make ends meet. Meanwhile, there are those devoted to public service, worked hard getting… Read more »
@You Know the type We all take so much for granted! We feel “entitled” to such conveneince that we don’t even consider the cost or sustainability. We are wrong! Our way of life is wrong! People don’t want to acknowledge that and some never will. Fact of the matter is,… Read more »
J-Frog, move to Darwin and leave productive alone people to prosper.
If you don’t offer something resembling competitive pay then good employees leave for places that will pay them better. Living someplace you like only goes so far when you know you can make 30% or 50% more doing the exact same job someplace else. What you end up with offering… Read more »