Orange County's five supervisors began a month-long summer recess from public meetings this month, their first extended break since voting themselves a 25% pay raise and denying raises to rank-and-file county workers under a $75 million structural deficit.

The raise, approved in June 2025, made them the highest-paid county supervisors in California. Their salaries now exceed that of Governor Gavin Newsom, who earns $242,295 according to the California Department of Human Resources. The county has not published the precise post-raise figure.

For Newport Beach residents, the 5th Supervisorial District representative is Vice Chair Katrina Foley. Foley voted against the pay raise but accepted the increased salary, Voice of OC reported. Two supervisors, Doug Chaffee and Vicente Sarmiento, donated their raises to charity after public backlash. Don Wagner and Janet Nguyen also kept theirs.

Workers told no money for raises

The new fiscal year budget took effect July 1. It includes the supervisors' pay boost and raised executive salaries but zero raises for general county workers.

Employees represented by the OC Employees Association, Teamsters Local 952, and the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs were told there is no room in the budget, even as the county taps reserves for the fourth consecutive year, according to Voice of OC.

"We're not asking for the 25% that they received," said Iriss Barriga, an OC Employees Association bargaining committee member. "If we're not here, who's going to be doing the work?"

District Attorney Todd Spitzer called the budget process "outrageously laughable" at the public comment podium during the June 2026 budget vote, saying outgoing County CEO Michelle Aguirre told him "the board doesn't want to have a public discussion."

Grand jury scrutiny

Voice of OC publisher Norberto Santana Jr. reported that Orange County grand jurors questioned where the pay-raise idea originated in the budget process but never received substantive answers.

A separate grand jury report released June 12, titled "Unbalanced Authority: Oversight and Accountability in Orange County Government," proposed charter reforms that would make it easier to remove elected county officials for misconduct, the Los Angeles Times reported. Supervisor Don Wagner pushed back on the proposal.

Fewer meetings, less public scrutiny

The board cut its public meeting schedule from weekly to biweekly in 2016. Since then, agendas running thousands of pages are frequently posted the Friday before Tuesday meetings rather than two weeks in advance, Voice of OC reported.

Former Supervisor Andrew Do, now serving five years in federal prison, exploited that compressed schedule to push through contracts tied to bribery charges, according to federal prosecutors.

The county's $9 billion budget funds services Newport Beach residents use, including the OC Sheriff's Department, county parks, and CalOptima Health, the $4.7 billion Medi-Cal insurer.

The board has not yet posted the date of its next public meeting. Residents can submit written comments to the clerk of the board at any time through the county's public records portal.