Madera County residents oppose Supes salary increase

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Derek Robinson, left, and Rick Farinelli, collect signatures Thursday outside the post office for a petition to repeal 30 percent raises for the Madera County supervisors.

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Five days before last Christmas, the Madera County Board of Supervisors voted to grant themselves a pay raise totaling in the neighborhood of $30,000, which is being challenged by a non-partisan, grass-roots group of county residents currently collecting signatures on a petition to stop this action.

The salary increase ordinance is set to take effect on February 18, and the residents are aiming to collect at least 4,000 signatures.

Groups appealing the ordinance include the Madera Oversight Coalition, Sierra Citizens for Sensible Government, the Trash Advisory Group, the Mountain Area Conservative Forum, the Republican Party of Madera County, the Central California Conservatives, and others.

If the ordinance is not defeated, supervisors with more than six years of elected service will receive an annual base pay of $127,000. The prior yearly salary for these supervisors with six years or more of service was $97,367.