San Bruno City Council wants to hike its pay

Based on that law, San Bruno councilmembers could raise their salaries up to $1,275 per month, though councilmembers expressed interest in only raising their salary to account for inflation within the time period it was last changed. The $486 stipend was set in 2001, and a raise per the consumer price index inflator would make it roughly $890 a month. 

The raise would not go into effect until December 2026, after the upcoming 2026 election cycle. 

“I wholeheartedly believe that nobody sitting here is doing it for the pay,” Vice Mayor Marty Medina said. “Will increasing the salary make a difference? Of course. Will it possibly encourage somebody else to run? Possibly. And it’s weird to have a say in your own salary, but this is also part of the job — you do things you feel would be better for the community.” 

Councilmember Michael Salazar was the only member of the City Council against a pay increase. He cited the council’s previous reasoning for rejecting increasing their pay — that it was inappropriate for the city to consider while weighing a potential bond measure to fund San Bruno’s capital needs. 

“Now that it’s passed, I think it’s even less appropriate for us to say, ‘now we have our money, now we want to give ourselves more of it,’” he said. 

Given the added benefits councilmembers receive — including the recent ability to be reimbursed for council-related expenses and health care benefits — as well as the city’s perilous financial straits, it would be inappropriate for councilmembers to vote on more money for what Salazar termed a “volunteer job,” he said. 

“Given we just barely approved a budget that’s completely fraught with perils we have yet to uncover, that we’re also looking at labor negotiations … symbolically, this is absolutely the wrong time for us to be discussing this,” he said. 

Councilmember Tom Hamilton, who previously led the charge against the city discussing salary increases for councilmembers amidst the push for capital bond Measure Q, said he was now supportive of the effort. 

“The low stipend is a barrier for folks to want this job, and we need more people in the community to step up to want this job,” he said. 

Staff will bring the item back to the City Council for further discussion at a later date. 

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