OC Public Employees Get a Raise

Santa came early for more than 11,000 employees for the County of Orange last week, when the OC Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an immediate 4.5% raise for 2/3 of the county's workforce, and 2.5% increases for the next two years. It represents a huge victory the Orange County Employees Association, which had waged bruising battles with supervisors over the past decade over everything from salaries to pension obligations to layoffs. And the current all-Republican board also belongs to a GOP whose leadership has told its politicians to not accept any donations from public-employee unions--or else. How will this salary bump change OC politics?