Madera County official receives controversial pay bump

Madera County Chief Administrative Officer Eric Fleming was recently granted a more than $31,000 salary increase, causing some to question why he’s being given a raise before rank-and-file employees.

Last week the Madera County Board of Supervisors voted to increase Fleming’s annual salary from $182,714 to $214, 332. The move was made largely for the county to retain Fleming after Fresno County offered him a chief administrative officer position with a salary of $250,000 per year, according to District 2 Supervisor David Rogers.

Some Madera County residents have complained that Fleming will be earning in excess of $250,000 annually once additional compensation is added to his latest raise. According to Madera County staff, the board only gave Fleming a $31,000 raise, with additional money being paid to him through compensation for longevity. Fleming has been the Madera County CAO since 2010.

“We gave him less than half of what they offered,” Rogers said in a telephone interview when asked about the pay increase. “It’s not out of line with what county administrators get paid. (And) you have to think about what it would cost to recruit for a replacement. And there’s always a potential we could lose others; he could take a couple good assistants with him.”

Before the Sept. 22 vote for the pay raise, Rogers said Fleming deserved the extra money because he took the county from a $12 million deficit to a nearly $18 million surplus, led the county to an A-plus credit rating from Standard & Poor’s and created a business-friendly environment.

Chowchilla resident Susan White said the raise was “excessive, completely unfair and it sends the wrong message” to constituents. She said the county’s salary study doesn’t list current employees reaching the median pay range until 2017 at the earliest.

“Are rank-and-file employees being gifted with premature longevity credit, or just high-level executives?” White asked. “Isn’t it called longevity because it’s to reward long-term service? Approving this will make Madera County look like the city of Bell.”

In 2013, five former elected officials in Bell were convicted of multiple counts of misappropriating public funds by paying themselves huge salaries while raising taxes on residents. The charges against the officials involved paying themselves inflated salaries of up to $100,000 a year.

Sharon Sample, a Madera County employee, said Fleming works hard, but the county should take care of its other employees first.

“Let’s take care of the employees because you guys keep slapping the employees in the face, saying they’re not worthy,” Sample told the board.

Rogers said the timing of Fleming’s raise is unfortunate, but the board plans to address pay increases for correctional officers soon.

Fresno County’s top administrator John Navarrette is slated to retire Oct. 23. His current salary is $217,623. Fleming has deferred the start of his salary increase to January.

This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 6:54 PM with the headline "Madera County official receives controversial pay bump."