San Diego City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to maintain their salaries, and that of the mayor, at current levels for the next two fiscal years.
The mayor will receive $100,464 a year through Fiscal Year 2018, while council members’ annual pay will remain at $75,386.
The city’s Salary Setting Commission proposed to keep pay the same for the next two years while setting in motion a series of reforms that, among other things, would tie compensation to the pay received by judges — a system used by many government jurisdictions.
The reforms, which stalled at the committee level, were not taken up by the City Council. Councilwoman Marti Emerald called on the package to be brought before them as soon as possible, however.
Lawyer Bob Ottilie, the head of the Salary Setting Commission, said the way elected official salaries are set in San Diego is a “dysfunctional situation.”
Critics of the process contend that council members routinely deny themselves raises over worries about negative voter reactions.
In a report to the council, Ottilie pointed out that there hasn’t been a raise in 13 years, and during that time the cost-of-living in San Diego has risen 27 percent.
–City News Service
