A City Council committee voted 4-0 to push forward two November ballot proposals regarding salary increases for the mayor and City Councilmembers, possibly giving voters a say on the matter.
Councilmembers Donna Frye and Tony Young told the committee Wednesday, May 28, however, that they thought the City Council should narrow the proposals to a single measure so voters are not forced to decide between two measures on the same salary issue.
The motion that was ultimately passed by the committee calls on the city attorney to draft language for the two raise proposals and present it to the City Council this summer.
“It really needs to go to voters. It needs to be easily understood,” Frye said.
Frye suggested one measure should set a base figure, such as the current $75,000 for councilmembers, and add a three to five percent raise every two years. Jim Madaffer, who chairs the Rules, Open Government, and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, called the suggestion a “sensible approach.”
“We need to get out of this situation of raising our own salaries,” Madaffer said.
Frye said voters should be able to look at exact figures as to what they would approve in terms of raises.
The other proposal would tie salaries of the mayor and City Council to a certain percentage of what Superior Court judges receive, which is the way members of the county Board of Supervisors receives raises. The specific percentage was not spelled out in the motion by Councilman Ben Hueso.
“This is a very delicate issue (for the) public,” Hueso said.
It was Hueso’s original motion on April 14 that would have increased the salaries of councilmembers from $75,386 to $93,495.
While a majority of the council initially approved the motion, a public furor developed, leading Mayor Jerry Sanders to veto the increase on April 17. At the time, the City Council had sufficient votes to override Sanders’ veto. But Hueso and Council President Scott Peters withdrew their support, and the proposal was killed by the council April 21.
The mayor’s current salary is $100,464, an amount Young described as “a pathetic salary.” Several councilmembers reminded Young that Sanders does not take most of his salary because he is eligible to collect a pension for his 26 years as a San Diego police officer.
Peters was absent from the May 28 vote because he was participating in a debate with other candidates for city attorney. Peters did not accept the Council’s last raise in 2002 and makes $71,522. Superior Court judges currently earn $171,648 and the Board of Supervisors passed a county ordinance in 1977 that ties their increases to a percentage of what the judges make.
Madaffer said during the meeting that the city attorney makes $203,000 annually.
Deputy City Attorney Jo Kiernan suggested other options, such as passing a charter amendment so the current Salary Setting Commission could actually set the pay raises instead of merely recommending them. She said the Charter Review Committee recommended this be done.
The Council earlier turned down the idea of placing a measure on the ballot that would have the seven-member Salary Setting Commission establish salaries.
No one on the committee May 28 supported the idea.