Part-Time Supervisors and Coffee with Mike Morrell?

The effort to cut San Bernardino County Supervisors' salaries hit a Target, literally.

On March 3, as I walked into the Target store in Redlands, I was asked to sign a petition in favor of a measure that would cut the county supervisors' salaries and benefits closer to a part-time range. It is meant to reflect the 27 weeks the supervisors work during the year, according to supporters.

The request for a signature came from two paid contractors who sat outside with a table filled with petitions.

The two said they were not privy to how many other contractors had been hired to collect signatures, but said there were likely more at other locations. They were aiming to put the measure on the November ballot.

By chance, I had heard a campaign representative for 8th District Congressional Candidate Gregg Imus make a pitch for that proposal Feb. 2 to the Redlands Tea Party Patriots.

“Part-time pay for part-time work, right?” the Imus representative told a large crowd. The effort was designed to coincide with a state measure, introduced by Assemblywoman Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), he said.

The local measure also has the support of San Bernardino Public Employees Association, representing about 11,000 county employees, according to the Riverside Press-Enterprise newspaper.

The powers behind the effort say it is a cost cutting measure needed in these financially lean times. But some, including San Bernardino County Third District Supervisor Neil Derry, who is running for re-election, view it as a tool to intimidate county officials. Officials are negotiating with the employees' union and are pushing for more concessions from workers, according to reports.

The county supervisors earn between $240,000 to $280,000 total compensation (including salary, benefits, retirement) depending on what plan is picked, Derry said.

The supervisor broached the issue during a March 1 candidate’s forum hosted by the Patriots when asked about the budget. Supervisors must close a $125 million deficit over the next five years, he told the crowd.

“The labor negotiations have not gone well in the county, which you see in the initiative to make the supervisors part-time,” Derry said. “That’s democracy at work.”

Twentynine Palms mayor James Bagley -- who with San Manuel Tribal Chairman James Ramos -- is challenging Derry for the seat, was asked directly about it by the moderator.

“In all my years of being an elected official, I came from the private sector,” Bagley said. “I went home to a job that kept my feet rooted firmly in the real world. If you’re a professional politician and your entire livelihood has always come from the public trough, you have a very hard time, I believe, actually relating to people who are producing things in society. So the concept of a part-time legislator that would allow people to come from useful professions and bring that knowledge base into Sacramento to make decisions I think is a perfectly legitimate concept and one that is worth examining.”

He was not happy, however, over the measure’s supporters adding, “I don’t like unions trying to leverage their power against the board of supervisors on pension decisions…”

Want a chance to speak with Assemblyman Mike Morrell? I think some of you might.

The assemblyman invites constituents in the Redlands area to “Coffee with Mike,” from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on March 17 at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 528 Orange St. Another coffee event is scheduled in Loma Linda at the same time March 23 at Starbucks Coffee, 11245 California St.

There are other events scheduled in a few other surrounding cities. The calendar is available here.

Morrell is running against businessman Russ Warner, a Democrat, for the 40th assembly district.