Panel Should Review Pay, Howard Says : Salaries: County supervisor is the second to call for reform amid growing outcry over board members’ lucrative compensation.

County Supervisor Vicky Howard called Friday for an independent panel to look at comparable salaries for county and private-industry jobs, then set up a new pay formula for top Ventura County officials.

Howard was the second supervisor in two days to propose compensation reforms in the wake of a growing outcry over county leaders’ lucrative pay and benefits, made public earlier in the week.

Howard’s pay plan and another proposed by Supervisor John Flynn will be discussed at Tuesday’s board meeting.

Like Flynn, Howard said she wants to strip the elected board members of the power to set their own salaries.

“I think it’s very difficult for public officials to be in a position of giving raises to themselves,” she said.

But during a press conference in her Simi Valley office, Howard said she cannot support a plan by Flynn to set the supervisors’ base pay at 75% of the amount paid annually to Municipal Court judges. Howard said she wants an independent panel to determine the appropriate formula.

“Without anything that demonstrates to me that it is justified, that it is not just a number picked out of thin air, I would not support it,” she said.

Under Flynn’s plan, each supervisor’s base pay would increase $17,778 annually to $68,010. But at the same time, Flynn urged that the board eliminate its car allowances and its longevity, vacation and education bonuses.

When he unveiled the plan, Flynn said he believed the supervisors’ annual compensation, including medical and retirement benefits, would not change significantly.

But Howard, who did not qualify for the longevity and education bonuses, said Flynn’s plan would boost her pay.

According to figures released Monday by the county, Howard was the lowest paid among the five supervisors, receiving $64,792 in salary and benefits during 1991. Flynn was the highest paid, with compensation totaling $91,490.

Howard said she could not approve a raise in her pay unless it is proposed by an impartial panel.

“The only way I probably could vote for something is if this is something that’s studied independently, and they come back and say, ‘This is what it should be,’ ” she said.

In an interview Friday, Flynn said an impartial review is not needed.

“It seems to me, what I’ve done is what any panel would end up doing,” he said. “If you look at the comparable salaries of supervisors in California, ours is on target.”

Flynn said his pay would probably decrease slightly and Howard’s would rise a small amount under his plan.

“It equalizes her pay with the others,” he said. “That’s important for her to note.”

During her press conference, Howard also insisted that she did not reap a personal windfall from the $10,000 vacation benefit she received from the county in January.

Howard said she was left with about $6,400 after paying taxes on the bonus. From this sum, she donated $2,527 back to the county, to be used for an employee suggestion program that rewards workers who propose ways to save funds or provide services more efficiently.

The supervisor said she also contributed $2,500 to create a community-service scholarship for local high school students. The remaining funds were donated to charities, such as the Boys and Girls Clubs, Boy Scouts and YMCA, or were spent on unreimbursed supplies for community informational meetings, Howard said.

“Every cent I received under the (vacation) fund went back to the community or the county,” the supervisor said in a written statement.