In 2020 County voters approved Measure K with the largest number of favorable votes for any initiative in County history. This initiative capped pay for county supervisors at $60,000 annually and limited supervisors to a single four-year term. Now, almost three years later, none of the elements of county Measure K have been instituted, but that may be about to change.
In a stunning decision last week, California’s 4th District Court of Appeal ruled against the County of Supervisors and in favor of Measure K.
Supervisors sought to kill the voter-approved Measure K first by filing a lawsuit in San Bernardino Superior Court and second by placing their own voter initiative on the ballot which revised the county charter so as to protect their own large salaries by law.
Millions were spent on that initiative, the same initiative that the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association called “one of the most deceptive campaigns they’d ever seen.” Government reformer’s Measure K looked doomed after their measure narrowly won and the Superior Court ruled Measure K unconstitutional.
But now the higher, 4th District Court of Appeal has reversed that decision and opened the door for measure k to now be implemented.
This is a major shakeup for the county board of supervisors and it’s anybody’s guess how they will respond.
