Amid an economic crisis fueled by the pandemic, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors granted themselves a 3 percent pay raise on Tuesday.
“I just want to say that this job is a very demanding one with a lot of responsibilities that are very diverse,” Supervisor Joan Hartmann said. “If you’re somebody who was kind of retired, like me, or if you have a business or you’re independently wealthy, you could do this. But if you’re trying to support a family and this is your only means, it is not a huge compensation for the responsibilities of this job.”
Hartmann’s sentiments were shared by supervisor Das Williams and Steve Lavagnino but not by all.