OUR OPINION

When the cash cow of ever-increasing property values stuffed county coffers like the California Gold Rush, top-level county administrators and department mangers bathed in the excess with double-digit pay hikes and out-of-control spending.

Well, like the '49ers, the taxpayers' gold has dried up. There ain't no gold in them there sand hills no more.

Property values continue to plummet, prices are skyrocketing, folks are out of work and the local and national economy are in recession. People are hurting, and county government must react accordingly to help relieve the burden - just as officials gorged on the excess.

At least one county commissioner recognizes the plight we're all in. Commissioner David Russell has a few ideas to make county government easier on taxpayers' disappearing bank accounts: forego salary increases this year for the county's highest paid - many would contend, overpaid - employees.

Seems like a no-brainer to us.

Russell said he would also advocate 2 percent raises for government employees at a certain pay threshold, perhaps $35,000 annually, negotiating other raises depending on an employee's pay level.

That makes good sense.

After all, a 2 percent raise for someone making $35,000 a year is $700 - a dozen tanks of gas. A 2 percent raise for someone making $100,000 is nearly triple at $2,000. We've never favored automatic, across-the-board pay raises, anyway. That's a sure way for a business - or in this case, the county - to needlessly increase expenses. Employees should be paid on the merit system from a set pool of money earmarked for raises that year. The best workers get the most and the not-so-productive get the incentive to improve.

But that's another editorial.

We'd like to see Russell's fellow commissioners step up and approve his salary recommendation.

We're also intrigued by County Administrator David Hamilton's idea of reducing the number of high-level administrators and department heads in county government. County government has far too many chiefs and not enough rank-and-file who do the heavy lifting. Buying out overpaid department managers is the only way county officials will be able to right-size this top-heavy government.

Cutting the number of attorneys representing county officials should also be a priority. The situation reminds us of the old county extension agent joke, when one agent runs into an old friend at state conference and asks why he seems so down in the dumps. "My farmer died," the depressed agent answers.

County government has too many attorneys representing too few interests at a price taxpayers simply can't afford.

We'd also like to commend Commission Chairman Chris Kingsley for standing against the closure of Animal Services on Saturdays. That's when the public uses the service the most. That's when most of the animals are adopted. That's when it's convenient for the working public.

Close Animals Services on Mondays and rearrange work schedules. That's public service.

Commissioners should revisit this issue and make a decision in the public's best interest.