Last week, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a huge $49,000 pay increase for themselves, boosting their base pay from $195,000 to $244,000 (by state law, their maximum pay is pegged to the salaries of superior court judges).
In the wake of predictable public backlash, two of the supervisors who voted for the pay increase – Vince Sarmiento and Doug Chaffee – went wobbly and announced they would donate their pay increase to charity. In Sarmiento’s case, he’s giving the dough to “support immigrant families in crisis.”
Sarmiento explained he made the decision “after…reflecting on the stark contrast between this raise and the ongoing hardships faced by our immigrant neighbors.” Since the tumultuous ICE enforcement actions were going full tilt when Sarmiento voted to give himself a raise, one is left to wonder how that “stark contrast” escaped him at the time,
On July 1, Santa Ana Councilman David Penaloza sent a letter to Sarmiento, asking some obvious questions, such as whether Sarmiento’s decision is a one-time thing or if he plans to donate that $49,000 for as long as he’s on the Board (Sarmiento is up for a second four-year term in 2026).
Penaloza asked if Sarmiento is going to claim the donation as a tax deduction, “thereby turning a controversial raise into a financial benefit under the guise of charity? Will the supervisor disclose the charities who will benefit from his largesse?
The councilman had other questions as well, pertinent or not depending on how Sarmiento “donates” his raise.
Supervisor Sarmiento replied with a cocktail of stonewalling-infused indignance. The supervisor-attorney-landlord adopted a tone of Olympian befuddlement, perplexed that Penaloza’s “interest regarding whether I should spend or donate my salary, and how I should structure this donation” – so perplexed, in fact, that Sarmiento doesn’t answer any of the very reasonable questions put to him.
However, Sarmiento does lay it on thick with pharisaical self-praise for “those of us” (meaning him) “who have spent our professional careers helping the undocumented community.” Sarmiento takes umbrage at the impertinence of Penaloza’s “frivolous” questions. He slaps Penaloza with the red herring that instead of questioning Vince Sarmiento, he should be emulating Vince Sarmiento by rising to Vince Sarmiento-levels of exertion on behalf of the “undocumented community,,” instead of pestering Vince Sarmiento with “frivolous questions.
In other words, Sarmiento dodges, obfuscates and moralizes inappropriately.
UPDATED: following the publication of this editorial, Supervisor Sarmiento removed his response to Penaloza from his social media.
It is perfectly legitimate to ask whether or not his decision – clearly made under duress – to donate a huge and politically unpopular pay increase is a one-time thing until the controversy blows over or until he’s safely re-elected – and Sarmiento can pocket the pay hike next year. $49,000 is a lot of money, after all. Sarmiento is a sly fox, and this wouldn’t be the first time a wily politician pulled a maneuver like that.
And yes, legally speaking, it’s nobody’s business but Sarmiento’s to whom he makes charitable donations. Then again, nobody forced him to make a big public deal of giving his pay increase to “support immigrant families in crisis,” either. he’s an elected official, and for the last few weeks hasn’t passed up an opportunity to grab a microphone and bemoan ICE enforcement actions and praise “community groups” for “resisting.” So it is germane and a matter of public interest if he’s giving the $49,000 to groups like the Orange County Rapid Response Network, CSO OC, Chispa, VietRise or some other progressive political advocacy group that he can later rely on for support in his re-election campaign.
In the meantime, he should spare us the harumphing over Penaloza’s questions.
