Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz Admitting to initial skepticism in the process, Norma Williams congratulated county administrators and supervisors Tuesday on being able to compromise with the union and employees she represents. Williams, president of the Del Norte County Employees Association SEIU 1021, said that a side letter agreement implementing recommendations of a recently-completed compensation analysis isn’t perfect, but it’s a first step in making the county competitive and attractive to new applicants. “Twenty-five years and several salary studies later, you actually heard our message and decided to implement a salary schedule that addresses the chronic low wages, inequity and compaction that has plagued our county employees and departments for decades,” she said. “Is it perfect? Some may say it is not, however the majority of SEIU members agree that it’s definitely better than what’s been the norm for far too long.” Four members of the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors ratified side letter agreements with SEIU 1021, the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Employee Association and the Del Norte County Middle Management Group. They adopted new salary schedules for the county’s three represented employee groups as well as for its unrepresented employees. Finally, the Board adopted an ordinance updating Title 2 of the Del Norte County Code and setting the biweekly compensation rate for each county supervisor at $2,277.67 regardless of the number of terms they’ve been in office. District 5 Supervisor Dean Wilson was absent. The Board’s action on these items come after they had asked their administrative team to compile new salary schedules using data consultants with Gallagher collected during a compensation and structural analysis. In September, Gallagher representatives Kari Mercer and Georg Krammer told county supervisors that Del Norte County’s overall base salary was 10% below the market median while its overall benefits package was 2.1% above the market median. At that Sept. 9 meeting, Human Resources Director Kerri Vue said that 121 county positions were empty out of a total of 482 with the majority being in the Social Services and Behavioral Health branches of the Department of Health and Human Services. Dissatisfied with Gallagher’s recommendations, saying the data points used were inconsistent, county supervisors asked County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez and his team to work with the data and develop a structure that’s more appropriate for Del Norte County. According to Lopez, Gallagher’s recommendations would have resulted in inverse relationships between department supervisors and their subordinates. On Nov. 25, Lopez brought a revised salary structure for unrepresented employees to the Board for approval. Implementing the new structure for the county’s unrepresented groups was the easiest since there is no bargaining involved, he told Redwood Voice Community News. According to Lopez’s staff report for Tuesday’s meeting, the side letter agreements with its represented employee groups are necessary for the county to implement the new salary structure at the start of the pay period on Dec. 19. As of Tuesday, Lopez and his team were still negotiating with SEIU 1021 representatives as well as with the mid-management group. Speaking for SEIU 1021, Williams said that those negotiations were nearly finished. “Our members overwhelmingly voted on all the updated articles agreed to thus far,” she told supervisors. “Both sides will have to be mindful of any future recruitment and retention issues, of any consistent vacancies that will negatively impact the county workforce. We cannot predict what internal and external events and circumstances will impact the county’s fiscal situation and county’s wages, but we must not become lax in this current moment.” A new memorandum of understanding between both represented groups and the county is expected to be brought to the Board early next year, according to Lopez’s staff report. Just before she and her four colleagues voted to approve the side letter agreements, Starkey congratulated Lopez and his team. “My hope is this is the first step in fixing a pretty broken payroll system,” she said. “Now when we do this hopefully in three more years, if we do another compensation analysis, we’re going to spend that time to perfect it even further and we’re just going to get there. We are going to get there.” Meanwhile, in addition to making the biweekly compensation rate for county supervisors consistent regardless of how long they’ve served in office, the updated ordinance adds language justifying the additional $100 biweekly compensation for the chairman of the Board of Supervisors. The ordinance also adds a cost of living adjustment for supervisors of not less than 2.5% or more than 4%. The Board of Supervisors will be required to review that section starting in 2029. Supervisors can also waive the cost of living adjustment by a four-fifths majority vote due to financial hardship or other factors.