Less than two months after it was enacted, Madera County Supervisors won’t see a hefty pay raise, after all.
The move comes after six weeks of heavy campaigning by Madera County-based foothill residents who nearly reached sufficient signatures on a petition to force the raise to a vote.
State of play: Prior to February, Madera County’s lawmakers were paid 41.2 percent of a Madera County Superior Court judge’s salary. Under prior salary rules, once a Supervisor entered their sixth year of service, that rate jumped to 43.26 percent.
- The resolution, spearheaded by retiring Supervisor Tom Wheeler and co-authored by outgoing Supervisor Brett Frazier, set the rates at 50 percent and 55 percent of the judicial salary, respectively.
- The resolution received a narrow 3-2 vote for approval, with Supervisors Leticia Gonzalez and Rob Poythress dissenting.
- While circulating petitions to repeal the pay hike, opponents placed immense pressure on one of the Board’s new additions, Robert Macaulay, who served as Chief of Staff to Wheeler prior to his election in November.
- During a Tuesday vote, Supervisors voted 5-0 to advance the repeal measure and are scheduled to bring back the repeal ordinance for final consideration on March 7.
What they’re saying: Ahead of the issuance of a special meeting, Macaulay disavowed the pay increase.
- “I have decided to forgo any raise that the Board of Supervisors may receive because of the resolution passed by the outgoing board during public session in December of 2022. In my conversations with staff, I have learned that I may not have the option to deny this raise as board members have previously done with raises tied to increases in judicial salaries. If I must accept the raise, I will donate the funds back into the community through local organizations. I did not sign up to serve for the compensation and I am eager to put this issue behind us so we can focus on the larger issues at hand,” Macaulay said in a statement issued on Feb. 6.
