Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach said today that despite slashing nearly $1.8 million from his budget, his office will still end the year $5.9 million in the red, requiring him to consider more money-saving options, including job cuts.
“We will continue to look for additional ways to cut salaries and trim the budget as effectively as we can,” Zellerbach told the Board of Supervisors in his first presentation since being sworn into office Jan 3.
“We’re continuing to review staffing needs and levels throughout the county. We’re constantly reevaluating those situations.”
Zellerbach said his dissolution of the D.A.’s Executive Division — which his predecessor, Rod Pacheco, had formed — is expected to save $900,000.
According to the D.A., he has eliminated 16 positions, most at the executive level, in the last eight weeks.
A victims’ services office in Murrieta will also be consolidated to save money, Zellerbach said.
“This is a reflection of the budgetary situation that we’re faced with,” said Zellerbach, who estimated the current-year savings at $1.77.
The county’s new top prosecutor complained he has been saddled with the fiscal consequences of Pacheco’s decisions. Zellerbach, a former Superior Court judge, defeated his one-time colleague in the June election.
Zellerbach said Pacheco frittered away more than a half million dollars in his lawsuit against the county in December, which stemmed from the Executive Office’s refusal to “unfreeze” a dozen positions Pacheco insisted were authorized in his budget.
The county relented to validating nine of the hires just before the end of the year, and the legal action was dropped.
Zellerbach also objected to his predecessor’s decision to sign off on a vacation buyback program for prosecutors. The program resulted in a $1.5 million hit to the D.A.’s budget.
Under the program, prosecutors are permitted to cash in up to 160 hours of accrued vacation time in a year. However, several supervisors opposed the 2010 buyback because negotiations over a new contract with the Deputy District Attorneys’ Union had not been resolved.
Zellerbach said he’s up against the same financial challenges confronting the state and the county as a whole.
“The challenge requires all of us to be open and honest with one another and … more effective and efficient with the limited resources available to us,” he said.
His presentation received praise from four of the five board members. Supervisor John Benoit was absent.
Zellerbach said he hopes to settle the lawsuits brought against the D.A.’s office by former employees, which are expected to siphon $167,000 from the current fiscal year budget.
Zellerbach said he hopes to settle the lawsuits brought against the D.A.’s office by former employees, which are expected to siphon $167,000 from the current fiscal year budget.
Before taking office, Zellerbach vowed to re-examine each death penalty case filed by his predecessor to ensure they were justified, noting that the county was not “Devil’s Island.” He also said he would tighten the criteria used in pursuing capital punishment cases, which are the most expensive to litigate.
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