San Diego City Council members unanimously voted Monday, April 9, not to give themselves or the mayor a raise, considering the political climate and the possibility that 671 city workers may lose their jobs in upcoming budget talks.
The Salary Setting Commission had recommended a 25 percent raise this year. The current salary for council members is $75,386 annually, except for Council President Scott Peters, who turned down the last raise and accepts $71,522.
“This is not the time to get a salary increase, and I knew that when I ran for office,” said Councilman Kevin Faulconer, who represents the District 2.
“I don’t see how we’re going to cut positions in the budget and consider salary increases for us,” District 3 Councilwoman Toni Atkins said. “It sends the wrong message.”
The mayoral salary is $100,464, but Mayor Jerry Sanders has decided not to accept most of it because he is receiving an annual pension of approximately $80,000 as a 26-year police officer and former police chief.
The council voted 7-0 to decline any salary increase. District 7 Councilman Jim Madaffer was absent.
Members also voted 6-1 to refer the issue to the Rules Committee to tinker with the concept of how council salaries should be set.
“We should not be in the position to raise our own salaries,” Peters said. “This is a bad process.”
The Salary Setting Commission was created in the 1970s as an independent group that would recommend and review pay for the mayor and council members. In 2006, the commission recommended no increase.
“The Salary Setting Commission does not set salaries,” community member Phil Hart said at the meeting. “The name should be changed to the Salary Recommendation Commission.”
For 2007, the commission recommended a 25 percent increase that would have raised council members’ salaries to $94,233 and the mayor’s to $125,580.
No one from the commission showed up for the hearing Monday.
Councilman Tony Young, who represents District 4, was the only member to voice support for an increase “because it’s the right thing to do,” he said. Young noted that he was a middle school teacher before he was elected to City Council.
Sanders is expected to unveil his budget for fiscal year 2008 this month. A balanced budget proposal released April 9 by the Mayor’s Office suggested that 671 positions be permanently eliminated from the city budget.