The letter I wrote Oct. 2 to Sun Staff Writer David Minsky was to get more information out of City Hall. And yes, this city administrator says we don’t have a lot of money. And yes, three Measures in November 2014, 77 percent voted for the three measures:Â
• Measure X: Raised city sales tax
• Measure W: Created business license feesÂ
• Measure V: Eliminate caps on utility fees
We did not pass these three measures so that the city administrator could give himself a big pay hike.Â
Where was the City Council?
The original contract for the city administrator was for 2.5 years—from February 2013 to May 2016—the pay was $80,028 plus 40 hours administrator leave of $1,539.
Less than a year later—renegotiated November 2013 (expires May 2015)—pay increased to $102,500 plus $22,472, plus $80,000 term life insurance, plus 80 hours leave.
Renegotiated again in May 2015 (expires May 2017) pay increased to $105,00 plus $2,500.
In less than 2.5 years he has negotiated a 34 percent increase in pay and benefits. UNACCEPTABLE.
With that kind of extra funds he could have hired the planning commission back, or hired a city planner, where as of now, we have a fire department employee doing the planner’s work. And I don’t know if this employee is qualified to do the job of a city planner, I have not seen any type of credentials from this fire department employee.Â
This article appears in Nov 19-26, 2015.
