South San Francisco City Council voted to increase councilmember compensation by an additional $400 per month, citing the need to attract a more diverse array of candidates, though some councilmembers felt the move was tone deaf in light of recent budget talks.
The city is one of many to take up the issue in the last several months, as a new state law Senate Bill 329 went into effect, allowing general law cities to increase councils’ pay up to a certain amount, depending on their population size. Currently, monthly pay for South City’s members sits at $1,000 per month and are allowed to increase it up to $1,600 per the recent legislation.
Councils are then allowed to increase pay each year by 5% or the rate of inflation – whichever is higher – though automatic raises are not permitted.
San Mateo County cities compensate councilmembers at different levels, with some municipalities — particularly more affluent cities such as Hillsborough and Woodside — not providing pay, while others, such as Daly City, offering over $2,000 per month. But even at the higher end, the amount is not a livable wage on its own, especially when factoring in other committees and events on top of biweekly council meetings. The state legislation was also championed on the premise of enticing more candidates who may have otherwise found the elected position financially infeasible.
“It’s a diversity issue,” Vice Mayor Eddie Flores said. “Think about the mom that has three children that wants to be a councilwoman in District 1. She needs child care to be able to be here until 11 p.m. These are things we need to be thinking about — evening meetings, plus serving on all the other extra boards up and down the Peninsula.”
But navigating the optics concern is a real hurdle, especially because of recent discussions over the city’s looming structural budget deficit. The projected shortfall for next fiscal year currently stands at around $11 million.
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“According to the city manager’s report, she asked all of the departments to have a 5% reduction and most of them did it, and the City Manager’s Office led the way, reducing their cost by 21%,” Councilmember Flor Nicolas said. “So it seems like it’s just tone deaf to have a salary increase.”
The additional annual cost to increase council compensation to $1,600 maximum amount would have been about $38,000, although the council decided to increase it slightly below the limit to $1,400 monthly. Nicolas and Councilmember Mark Nagales voted against the measure, which ultimately passed 3-2. The increase won’t go into effect until new councilmembers are sworn in after the November election.
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