BY JEFF HORSEMAN
STAFF WRITER
jhorseman@pe.com

Published: 17 April 2012 05:53 PM

Riverside County’s new county executive officer will earn more than $275,000 a year under a compensation package approved by supervisors Tuesday.

Unanimously and with little conversation, the Board of Supervisors voted in favor of the recommended pay and benefits for Jay Orr, who is being promoted from assistant county executive officer. Orr, 55, will occupy the CEO’s seat on the supervisor dais next week.

“Mr. Orr, welcome aboard,” said board Chairman John Tavaglione after the vote. He described Orr as “a man who has proven himself from day one … I’m looking forward to great things.”

Orr replaces Bill Luna, who stepped down last September. Retired CEO Larry Parrish filled the post on an interim basis, and supervisors interviewed six candidates before voting 4-1 last week, with Jeff Stone opposed, to make Orr the county’s top administrator.

Orr has spent 25 years in county government. He was assistant district attorney under then-District Attorney Grover Trask and led the code enforcement department before becoming assistant CEO in 2008.

He will get a 15 percent raise from his old job. Orr’s base salary of $275,546 matches Luna’s when he left.

Orr will also get deferred compensation worth $16,900 annually as part of a package worth just under $350,700 once benefits are factored in. The value of Orr’s pay and benefits puts him in the median of CEO compensation for nine California counties, according to county officials.

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