Ekard to Riverside?

Published: Friday, June 6, 2008 12:05 PM PDT

E-MAIL STORY

There's a buzz around town that Walt Ekard, the administrator of the county of San Diego's government is being, or about to be, recruited by Riverside County.

Apparently Riverside County Chief Executive Officer Larry Parrish is retiring June 30.

When I found Ekard Tuesday night at Election Central, he wouldn't comment.

Stay tuned. Ekard is pretty popular. I caught up with Supervisor Dianne Jacob -- who was beaming from her landslide re-election. She said she would "absolutely" want to keep Ekard.

Not sure what that means, but if you see a raise go his way soon, you'll know why. Riverside has a reputation for "competitive" pay packages.

-- SCOTT LEWIS

5 Comments so far on this story...

Ekard would find himself wealthier perhaps, money-wise, in Riverside, but I can assure him he would be profoundly unhappy once he settled into the routine of living and working there. I hope for his sake that he makes the right call.

Posted by Algernon Sidney | reply to this comment
June 5, 2008 5:45 pm

I will do his job for half his "competitive" pay.

Posted by Billy Bob Henry | reply to this comment
June 5, 2008 8:37 pm

I'm sure you'd do Walt's job for half his pay, BBH, but you wouldn't even do it an eighth as well, so it would be a bad deal for the taxpayers.

Posted by Yes, but ... | reply to this comment
June 6, 2008 8:11 am

Can you pipe down already - you were wrong on Sanders, you'll be wrong on Aguirre - and here's another job you could not do, similar to police and fire. You enjoy bashing lots of folks but it must come from jealousy as you clearly are qualified to do any job, be it CAO, police officer, firefighter....if you think they have it so good - go get it. And I'm not a city employee and have no dog in the fight - my only interest is pointing out your b%&@s*)#.

Posted by BBH - what a joke | reply to this comment
June 6, 2008 11:03 am

Looks like our independent budget analyst might also be leaving for bigger opportunities elsewhere. San Diegans expect to make up budget shortages on the backs of city employees by cutting benefits and freezing pay raises. They will find out that other cities pay more, give yearly raises, and have better benefits overall. And the exodus of GOOD city employees will hurt any progress Sanders hopes to make. Cheapskate taxpayers will get what they pay for.

Posted by cheeky | reply to this comment
June 6, 2008 12:00 pm

Reader feedback

Users may post more than one comment, but should not pose as multiple users. Multiple posts from the same IP address but with a different user name on each will be reviewed to determine whether abuse has occurred.
Posts with overly personal attacks or unsubstantiated allegations may be edited or deleted.
Please be patient with the posts -- there may be a delay before they appear on the site -- and make sure to enter the code in the "image verification" box.