Members of the San Diego City Council on Monday voted 5-3 to reject the salary increase they voted for on April 14, but they almost ended up cutting the amount of compensation they receive after they initially voted to cut off their car allowance.
Council President and District 1 Councilman Scott Peters and District 8 Councilman Ben Hueso announced last week they would not support the raise they initially approved that would have increased council pay from $75,386 to $93,485 following Mayor Jerry Sanders’ veto of the raise. Sanders also vetoed his own raise that would have increased his salary from $100,464 to $130,000 annually.
As promised, Peters and Hueso voted against the raise on Monday and joined council members Kevin Faulconer, Donna Frye and Brian Maienschein. Council members Toni Atkins, Jim Madaffer and Tony Young voted to keep the raise.
When the issue of the $9,600 car allowance came up in a separate vote, the council voted 6-2 not to accept the allowance anymore. Madaffer and Hueso were the only ones who voted for it.
“This place is loony!” said Madaffer, telling others the vote represented “a cut in salary.” He and others urged the council to reconsider the vote, which they did.
The second time around, Atkins and Young voted with Madaffer and Hueso to oppose the cut of the car allowance. The motion to cut the car allowance came from Faulconer and was seconded by Frye. Peters and Maienschein voted with Faulconer and Frye to cut the car allowance.
The 4-4 vote meant the action failed, so the council members and City Attorney Michael Aguirre will be able to keep the car allowance. Peters and Mayor Jerry Sanders no longer accept the car allowance.
The council also voted 7-1 Monday to give firefighters a 5 percent raise over two years. A 3 percent raise will go into effect in July, and a 2 percent raise in 2009. Frye voted no. Sanders recommended the raise.
Last week, the council voted to give police officers a 6 percent raise.
In a last-ditch attempt to persuade the council members not to vote against their raise, attorney Robert Ottilie, a member of the Salary Setting Commission, released figures that he said showed that 3,299 city workers all made higher salaries than anyone on the City Council. Most of the positions were from the police and fire department, and overtime was included in the comparison.
“Seven hundred forty-six firefighters make more than you make. Thirty-one lifeguards make more. Sixteen librarians make more than you make,” Ottilie told the council.
The raise would have started in January of 2009, after Peters, Atkins, Madaffer and Maienschein would be out of office because of term limits. Peters and Maienschein are running for City Attorney, which pays $193,648 annually.
“I felt pretty comfortable in voting for the increase because it wouldn’t impact me,” Atkins said.
Atkins said people did not understand the city charter requires the issue of council salaries be put on the docket every two years as part of the process with the Salary Setting Commission, a seven-member group that recommended even higher salaries than the council voted.
“I think the mayor’s salary is too low,” said Young, who added that higher salaries would strengthen future council members and mayors.
Sanders currently accepts $36,000 of his salary, as he is eligible to receive a pension for being a 26-year employee of the San Diego Police Department. Peters did not accept the council’s last raise in 2002, and his pay is $71,522.