City managers win 3.5% boost in salary compensation City managers win 3.5% boost in salary compensation (November 18, 2005)

Opponents criticize rising gap between public, private sector
by Jeb Bing

The city government's 55 mid-level managers and department heads won pay raises in the 3.5 percent range Tuesday, but not without a fight.

The cost of the total adjustment on salaries and benefits is $307,665 for the fiscal year that started last July 1. The raises, considered by the City Council in closed door meetings over the past several months and at public council hearings on Nov. 1 and Tuesday, won the unanimous approval of the council. Some, however, had reservations, both on the council and among constituents.

Doug Miller of Paseo Santa Cruz criticized the council for keeping the pay raise plan under wraps. Unaware of the closed door discussions, he said he also did not know the plan was on the agenda at the Nov. 1 meeting. He praised Council members Cindy McGovern and Steve Brozosky for gaining the council's support to scuttle a vote after a late hour hearing, then continuing the proposal to Tuesday's meeting.

"It was stated at the Nov. 1 meeting that city staff and council members had 'vetted' this plan twice before," Miller said. "But the only vetting the public knew about was Nov. 1 when the issue came up at the end of the agenda with no mention of it in the media. I don't think anyone in the public knows about it still."

Former Councilwoman Kay Ayala, in her first council appearance since losing the race for mayor to Jennifer Hosterman last year, said she was opposed to continuing increases in salaries and benefits, as she had stated during her mayoral campaign. She said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was working to curb the upward trend line of always giving more and more benefits to government employees, and now the Pleasanton City Council is doing just the opposite.

She said she has long called for a study of municipal salaries and benefits in Pleasanton to compare them with other cities this size and also to benefits paid in the private sector.

"This pattern of continued increases is not just Pleasanton's problem," Ayala said. "It's occurring throughout the state. Now we see almost every day another report of a city or county in dire financial straits. It doesn't matter if officials say Pleasanton has plenty of money in its general fund to cover these costs, it's the perception by the pubic that this has gotten out of hand."

Ayala said she and others conducted a survey of friends and neighbors last week to see if any of them agreed.

"This wasn't a big survey done at Farmer's Market or on Main Street," she said. "We just showed a questionnaire we had prepared to people as we saw them. No one refused to fill out the material and they all agreed that this situation should be looked at."

Those eligible for the salary and benefit adjustments report to City Manager Nelson Fialho, who recommended the increase. Besides the 55 managers, it also applies to eight employees in the "confidential unit" category. These are senior administrative aids and executive assistants who are distinguished by the confidential nature of the work they perform.

The adjustments, which are retroactive to the start of the fiscal year, do not apply to the city's unionized workers, police and firefighters, or to Fialho and City Attorney Michael Roush, whose positions report directly to the City Council.

Fialho said the city's management compensation plan provides for control points to be adjusted annually, taking into consideration market and other influences granted to managers among other benchmark agencies.

Because of growing public concern of public sector pay and compensation, Fialho proposed hosting a public workshop on the city's compensation plan. It would follow the format of a city-sponsored televised workshop two years ago on workers compensation reform. At the proposed workshop, council members and city staff could discuss the current program, with presentations from industry specialists on compensation and public comments.

At the same time, Fialho will prepare a report outlining the structure and process used to determine employee salaries and conduct a public/private sector compensation survey

Although critical of the secrecy of this year's 3.5 percent adjustment, Ayala and Miller said they welcomed Fialho's initiative to conduct a flow-blown study of compensation issues before another round of increases is proposed. "I want to make sure that we look at the total compensation package, not just salaries," Miller said. "Our former fire chief (Stewart Gary) just retired at age 50 with $144,000 in earnings and retirement benefits. I'm sure he did a great job, but nobody gets that kind of compensation any more." Councilman Jerry Thorne supported the 3.5 percent salary adjustment increase after gaining assurances from others on the council that they would also support his motion for the city-sponsored study that Fialho proposed. "I also want to make it clear to all city employees that this is not being done to put your benefits or salaries at risk," he added. "The demands we place on this staff are absolutely phenomenal. This is the finest group of people I've ever had the pleasure of working with." Thorne, elected to the council last June, recently retired as a senior executive with Agilent Technologies, where he had responsibility for multi-million-dollar employee salary and benefit programs.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.