10:00 PM PST on Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Cassie MacDuff
Considering how long it took to merge the San Bernardino County sheriff’s and coroner’s offices, it was amazing to see how seamlessly the merger of the auditor/controller and treasurer/tax collector slid through last week.
The sheriff-coroner merger was recommended in 1996 by the grand jury. A blue ribbon panel studied the plan in 2001. But it wasn’t until a fifth grand jury report criticized the coroner in 2004 that the merger finally took place.
By contrast, the auditor/controller-treasurer/tax collector merger first arose just two months ago. County supervisors approved it on Jan. 12 with no dissent.
What was the difference?
The coroner fought tooth and nail to hang onto his post, surrendering it only when merger became inevitable. Then he resigned.
The treasurer/tax collector’s post was already vacant. The incumbent, Dick Larsen, retired last summer.
Another difference: The county faces an $86 million shortfall, making the immediate $500,000 savings from eliminating the treasurer-tax collector and administrator posts a selling point.
Auditor/Controller Larry Walker promised to review both departments to see where duplication can be eliminated and efficiencies made. He expects as much as $1 million in savings.
The only concern raised about giving Walker two departments to oversee was by Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who wanted assurance the county’s bond rating won’t suffer.
Walker vowed that preserving the bond rating will be a top priority.
He later told me he doesn’t anticipate making any changes in the treasurer’s well-qualified staff nor the contractor overseeing the $5 billion investment pool.
As part of the merger, Walker sheds responsibilities as recorder and county clerk, duties that will go to Assessor Dennis Draeger.
Since most documents recorded by the county deal with real estate, it makes sense to pair them with property assessment. Draeger called it a “marriage made in heaven.”
An odd couple is the pairing of assessor with county clerk, which performs civil marriages. Marrying at the assessor’s office seems as unromantic as it gets.
To read the entire story, click here.
Cassie McDuff is the undoubtedly the dumbest reporter in the history of newspapers. The merger had nothing to do with efficiency or saving money. If that were the case it never would have happened. It happened because the only candidate for Treasurer is a member of the Hansberger political clan and she had the same campaign consultatnt as Ramos, also a member of the Hansberger political clan. There is a political war going on dummy. Don’t give credit for something because of political spin. Only dumb reporters do things like that.
I heard it will save the County a million per year. How many line jobs is that?
There won’t be any savings. In government, mergers like this never result in savings. It is just a trick. All of the employees will be moved around and the Treasurer’s salary will be divided up among the other elected officials. Government lies like this all the time and no one ever revisits it later to see if it really happened. You have to be pretty unsophisticated to believe this. You sound like a staff member for one of the BOS. Try again. I’m not buying it and no one with any intelligence will either.
Cassie McDuff is indeed truly a naive idiot. Only she would believe that after 35 years the BOS just now discovered that they could save money by consolidating positions. Duh!
In the spirit of saving money, let’s also consolidate the following positions: Land Use and Public Works, Legislative affairs and Clerk of the Board, Ag/wgts/measures and Regional Parks, Fleet Management and Purchasing, Public Health and Behavioral Health and ARMC. There, just saved us a cool 10 million or so! That is one sixth the budget shortfall.
“The mergers give Walker a $40,000-a-year salary bump; Draeger, $30,000; Hoops, about $10,000.”
Why is it when low-level County staff has to take on extra duties, responsibilities, and work, they have to endure the same pay and title and then have to fight tooth-and-nail to have HR do a Reclassification study for the extra pay that they are rightfully due?? They are told to work smarter, not harder, that we still have to provide “service” to “our customers” during these lean times, yada, yada, yada.
I ask this because every time a County big-shot has to take on some extra duties, responsibilities, and work, they always seem to be able to wrangle a LOT of extra money from the County as “compensation”?? This is inspite of the fact that a lot of the extra “work” will be done by one of their underlings, deputies, extra.
Cassie, please try and stay away from becoming the Devil’s mouthpiece (oh I forgot, the PE doesn’t report on Ontario)o:? Tbss…is the PE the next publication to go belly-up? Better consider that offer for “corruption correspondent” before the PE becomes a bigger part of the problem than they already are.