Judges and San Diego County supervisors are the highest paid elected officials in the county.
Judges make close to $200,000 a year, while supervisors make $170,000 to $180,000 a year.
Political science professor Carl Luna joins Midday Edition Tuesday for the third installment of San Diego Politics 101. Luna answered questions about politician pay and endorsements.
The answers below have been edited for clarity and brevity. To hear the full interview listen to the Midday Edition podcast.
>> There are lots of jobs that will never make you rich, what about politics? Do elected officials get paid well? Is that one of the reasons that people want to be politicians? This is a question that listeners want to know. Science professional Carl Luna is here to answer basic questions and political process. Welcome back Carl. >> Good to be here. >> Let's ask this question, my question of politics is why are some elected officials receiving generous salaries and benefits more than the average family, more than $100,000 a year? Others receive less than the average family, particularly in schools, does one generate a better set of elected leaders or what else is going on, why do they do that? >> Why do they do that? >> We to question, why do you pay them as much? A lot depends on how to measure that. You have to think City Councilman may run 65,000 a year, mayors 75,000 a year, this is a corporation that is worth $3 billion a year. If they're in the private sector, theory would have zero debt onto their salary. In general, you do not go into politics to get rich, you go into it for the power. Maybe for others it is an entry-level job to move up in. Eventually you make your money into consulting and lobbying. Politicians set their own salaries, that is simply the way goes. Elected bodies to that and they have increasingly not wanted to raise their salaries for fear the public will turn against them. Appointed officials like chief financial officers and cities, city managers, they make hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even then, compared to the end of these, they are underpaid by private sector models. >> Which elected officials make the most in San Diego? >> The mayor makes 100,000, but that if you look at judges, they are elected, they may closer to 200,000, Board of Supervisors have gone a raise, they will be $175 a year. They are all running a multibillion dollar enterprise. School boards tend to be the lowest paid, some are barely compensated for anything. They make about 18 to 20,000, but they do get a nice health package. They always have to have another job. This is either looked at as volunteer work. The question is you get what you pay for, and the private sector you pay a lot for quality. In the public sector you try to do it for the cheap work >> When you say you get what you pay for back to John's question, do you get better politicians, better elected officials if the salary is higher? I'm not sure you have a good measure for that. >> You do know that in the city when you want to hire a manager, you have to be competitive. You have to pay them hundreds of thousands of dollars. I would tend to think that we are underserved to see and if you offer 300,000 on a job, you'll get a different level of people applying for it unless they are independently wealthy. Has a number of elected official households do, get their own salary. >> Yosemite candidates on the ballot, local, federal, state, voters are often looking for shorthand and to vote for many people in this partisan environment work --. Local races are nonpartisan, and are endorsed by different groups. Are they endorsed by a group that you relate to? Expect that when you vote for someone, if they win they will do things to benefit someone like you. You look for groups like you that support them and try to infer that this is the person to vote for. >> What is involved and what support comes along with an endorsement from an organization or an individual? >> Endorsement can be as little as a branded board -- endorsement >> If there are several Democrats or Republicans running for the same office, how does the party choose which candidate to endorse? >> Carefully, if there is only one person running, they get the automatic endorsement. What you have to have, it depends on local democratic levels and Republican clubs. The individual clubs can choose to endorse or not to endorse. Party central committees can choose to endorse or not to endorse, if it is a conditional -- congestion -- congressional district, they can choose to endorse or not. If you do not have someone who is clearly the leader within the party, the tendency is to let race play out into the primary. Primaries were originally for that purpose. You let the voters decide who the preferences and to the party is behind the candidate. >> To local political parties try to control how many candidates there are for certain election? >> They wish. In the old days they used to be of do that, Artie leaders would get in the smoke-filled room and decide. We democratized and let the voters decide to vote. In San Diego for 2015, you had Manchester bringing in the leaders and that's it we will rally behind him, Democrats split their votes with David Alvarez and Nathan Fletcher. They had their problems with that. Endorsements from local labor unions are also a big win for candidates. How much do they have in San Diego? >> Not as much as they used to, depends on the seat and district. Labor union votes just like the chamber of Congress vote is not enough to tip you from a blue to red strict and vice versa. They can have a play out there. Labor unions at the county board have not been very effective, it is been more effective in giving majority Democrats. School boards tend to be very effective because they can run local candidates and bring on a lot of leader support which is unionized. This is if you are in a unionized district. You said -- >> You said a lot of people look at endorsement is a kind of code for who they will support based on whether or not they like the organization? Is that a good way to make a political decision? >> Not necessarily a bad way. If you are looking at the track record, see who they're taking money from, what are the different bills and different less -- resolutions. The six tracking, if you want to shorthand and trust the group and if you like the Democratic Party in Boy Scouts, this can give you a quick way to know. Usually this will give you a correlation on how you want to vote. >> I've been speaking with political science professor Carl Luna. If there is anything else you are wondering in politics and why the process works the way it does, submit your questions for San Diego politics and email us at our email. Carl thank you very much. >> Thank you.
Q: John Stump of City Heights asked: Why do some elected officials receive a generous salary and benefits, more than the average family, more than $100,000 a year, while others receive less than the average family, particularly in schools. Does one generate a better set of elected leaders? Or what else is going on? Why do they do that?
A: San Diego City Council members make around $75,000 a year, the mayor about $100,000. They're running a municipal corporation, which is worth $3 billion a year. If they were in the private sector their salaries would have zeroes added on the end of it. In general, you don't go into politics to get rich. You go into it for the power. Maybe for some it's an entry-level job. But eventually you make your money when you go into consulting or lobbying. The politicians set their own salaries, that's simply the way it goes, elected bodies do that. And they have increasingly not wanted to raise their salaries, for fear the public will turn against them.
Q: Which elected officials make the most in San Diego?
A: Judges are elected, they make closer to $200,000. (San Diego) County Board of Supervisors members have given themselves a raise based on the fact that judges got a raise, and they're going to be around $170,000 to $180,000, but they're running a multi-billion dollar enterprise. School board members tend to be the lowest paid. Some are barely compensated anything. San Diego Unified School District board members are making around $18,000 to $20,000. They do get a nice health package but they always have to have another job. The theory there with school boards was they were going to be volunteer work, but they're running a billion-dollar enterprise.
Q: Back to John's question, do you get better politicians, better elected officials, if indeed the salary is higher?
A: Given the scope of difference between public sector and private sector, I'm not sure you have a good measure for that. You do know that in the city, when you want to hire a city manager, you have to be competitive to get somebody, so you have to pay in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. I would tend to think we are under-served, and no offense to the people who are serving right now, but if you offer $300,000 for a job, you're going to get a different level of people applying for it, unless they're independently wealthy, their family has other income coming in, as a number of our elected official's households do.
Q: On another topic, we’ve gotten lots of questions about endorsements. What does it mean for a candidate to have an endorsement?
A: You've got so many candidates on the ballot — local, federal, state — voters are often looking for shorthand on how to vote. For many people, in this very partisan environment, simply having an R (Republican) or a D (Democrat) by a candidate's name, is about all they need to know on how they're going to vote. Local races are non-partisan, so you look for other tells. Are they endorsed by Republican-interest groups or Democratic-interest groups? Are they endorsed by a group that you relate to? Because you expect when you vote for somebody, when they win, they will do things to benefit somebody like you.
Q: What is involved and what support does the endorsing organization or individual provide the candidate?
A: An endorsement can be as little as, like a brand endorsement, or well with dark money, as much as they want to give you.
Q: One of the main endorsements that candidates seek is the endorsement of their local political party. If there’s more than one Democrat or Republican running for an office, how do political parties choose who to endorse?
A: Carefully. Local Democratic or Republican clubs, the individual clubs, can choose to endorse or not to endorse. The party's central committees can choose to endorse or not to endorse. If it's a congressional district that crosses over a county line, typically its now for the state party at their conventions to choose to endorse or not. If you don't have somebody that is clearly the leader within the party, the tendency is to let the race play out into the primary. Primaries were originally for that purpose, you let the voters decide who the preference is and the party rallies behind their party candidate.
Q: Endorsements from the local labor unions are also a big win for candidates. How much influence do the local labor unions have here in the county?
A: Not as much as they used to, but it depends on the seat, it depends on the district. The labor union vote, just like the chamber of commerce vote, isn't enough to tip you from a blue district to a red or vice versa, but they can have a play in those 'purpling' districts that are out there. Labor unions at the county board of supervisors-level have not been very effective. They have been more effective in getting a majority of Democrats on the city council, but they haven't won the mayorship citywide yet. School boards they tend to be very effective there because they can run local candidates and bring out a lot of labor support from the school districts, which are unionized, if you are in a unionized district.
Q: You said that a lot of people look at endorsements as kind of a code for who they're going to support based on if they like the organization that is endorsing that particular candidate. Is that a good way to make a political decision?
A: It's not necessarily a bad way. I mean the best way, if you're looking at an incumbent, is look at their track record. Who have they taken money from? What are the different bills they have voted on or different resolutions? How have those turned out? But, that takes a lot of tracking, a lot of paying of attention. If you want the shorthand, if you trust a group, you like the League of Women Voters, you like the Democratic party, you like the Boy Scouts, that can give you a quick way to know and usually that will give you a correlation with how you want to vote.
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