March is the month for retirements at the County of Santa Barbara. It’s the month when any pension increase, based on the consumer price index, becomes known, and county employees must retire by April 1 to take advantage of the increase. This year’s was 7.5 percent, and County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato told the county supervisors at Tuesday’s meeting she’d never seen so many people retire as this March. Eight of the retiring employees had specialized or singular positions — like the person who processed paychecks for the 4,590 county employees every two weeks, or several who handled conservatorships and court caseloads. On a 4-1 vote, the supervisors approved hiring them all back for continuity’s sake. Supervisor Bob Nelson was the “no” vote on each, stating he was disappointed to see so many retirements at the same time for the same reason.
The other positions that were filled again were a grant administrator with the Office of Emergency Management, the chief financial officer for Public Health, and the former head of Human Resources and chief contract negotiator. Several department heads said the individual retired unexpectedly and were being asked back to train new employees. Others would come back to finish a contract negotiation, for instance, or stay through the budget process in June. All of the positions are to terminate in six months or one year.