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The atmosphere was tense inside the Pleasanton City Council chambers Tuesday as the council members voted 3-2 to increase their monthly pay by 10% following strong remarks from Mayor Karla Brown.
“If you don’t want the salary, if you don’t want the increase, don’t take it. But I’m worth it,” Brown said near the end of the regular council meeting. “I know I’m worth it and I’m worth a lot more than this. I’m surprised and disappointed by council members who want to make this political.”
According to city staff, the city’s municipal code concerning council member stipends allows the council to update the salary every calendar year per state law. The last increase was in 2019, which took effect after the start of the next council term in December 2020.
Because it has been two years since the last update, the council was able to approve a maximum of 10%, which resulted in an increase of $120.17 per month for each elected official.
That set the new monthly pay rate of $1,321.92 for council members and $1,421.92 for the mayor.
“They’re paying $20 an hour at Chick-fil-A,” Brown said. “If you were paid $20 an hour, you would earn about $3,400 a month … we’re a third of that. This is a stipend. I’m worth more.”
At the previous council meeting on Oct. 18, Vice Mayor Valerie Arkin motioned for staff to continue the item to Tuesday’s meeting because she wanted to avoid the discussion becoming political, which is what Brown said ended up happening anyway. The item was originally on Tuesday’s consent calendar, which are items that are routine in nature and are usually approved without discussion, but Councilmember Jack Balch motioned to pull it out of consent and have it be heard as a public item.
The discussion came exactly one week before the general election, when two council member positions are being contested along with Brown unopposed on the ballot.
“It was my preference to not have it heard before the election in order for it not to become political, which I guess too late for that,” Arkin said.
She originally motioned to hold the item, along with another similar item on the Oct. 18 agenda that had to do with health benefits for council members, until after the local campaign season.
But the reason the council had to vote on this particular item concerning their salaries by this past Tuesday was because from a procedural point of view, they couldn’t delay compensation for the new incoming council members.
In fact, one of the reasons Balch did not agree with the item was because he believed the council should have addressed both items on stipends and benefits in the same meeting for the sake of transparency.
“I think transparency is key in government, especially when we’re talking about the handling of public money for the purposes of compensating the mayor and City Council members,” Balch said. “I think we should be as forthright and transparent as possible.”
He added that in light of key issues the city is facing such as chemicals in the wells and affordable housing growth, he doesn’t see why staff needed to dedicate their time for that particular item.
“I think council stipends as well as council benefits should all be at the same night and fully disclosed with a fuller conversation,” Balch said.
Councilmember Kathy Narum, who also voted against the increase, said that while she was fine with splitting the increase up into two smaller percentages over the next two years, she was not fine with the total 10% increase.
“I’ve never viewed this as a job. It’s public service. It’s a form of volunteering,” said Narum, whose tenure on the council ends next month. “It’s an honor for us to be able to sit up here, the great majority of the time and so, for me, I can’t support a (10%) raise for us, when we’re handing out 3.5% raises to our employees.”
Narum referenced the recent council approvals to increase managerial positions in the city by 3% and she also referenced Pleasanton Police Department and Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department’s salary contracts.
“It’s not about the total sum. It’s just about what’s the message,” she said. “So for me, I would support 3.5% per year … that’s not a problem. But I can’t support the (10%) in light of what we’re doing for our employees.”
However, Councilmember Julie Testa did not agree with both dissenters’ points but she did agree that there are more important things to be talking about other than the “political grandstanding that’s happening right now.”
“The amount is a stipend. It is not a salary,” Testa said. “We don’t get paid for the amount of time committed, and no one does for the money; you’d be foolish to for what this amount is. There’s no effort at avoiding transparency.”
Brown also doubled down on what she said is a justifiable compensation for the amount of professional and personal time she has given up in order to do the work as mayor of Pleasanton.
“This is our responsibility — to take the final vote of over $100 million worth in budgets, over almost 500 employees that fall under our general responsibility,” Brown said. “I lose (a lot of) personal time, but I’m not doing it for the money.”
She said she is proud of her job and that because it’s built into the city’s codes, she should be able to vote on increasing her stipend.
“Our own civil code allows us to take a 5% raise (per year),” Brown said. “I’m surprised that anybody would use a salary comparison to a stipend position. I’m just surprised. So it does feel political.”
The salary increase would go into effect for the upcoming council starting in December.
The 3 council members that voted to give themselves raises are not effective enough nor doing a satisfactory job to warrant it. The fact that many of the council commitments are during working hours, leaves Pleasanton with either incompetence and lack of integrity (Vice Mayor Valerie Arkin) or out of touch views (Julie Testa) instead of the talented working residents that would really make Pleasanton an outstanding city for the future.
Hopefully Testa will be voted out in 2022 and anyone with a pulse will challenge Arkin in 2024. The lack of transparency and trying to wait until after election shows how distrustful and self serving the 3 that voted for the raise are. Kudos to Narum and Balch for making Pleasanton proud and leading with integrity.
Great idea, Mayor Brown. You should go work at Chik-Fil-A instead. I hear they’re hiring.
Alternatively, maybe she can find another city who pays their volunteers better and leave us all the h&ll alone.
The conversation was appalling. Council positions are voluntary. Period. There shouldn’t even be a stipend attached or insurance, imo. To draw the comparison between a Chic-Fil-A employee and a sitting council member is embarrassing. The Chic-Fil-A employees are getting paid for their “job”. Council positions are voluntary. And to bring up “I’m worth it” multiple times was truly embarrassing. The mayor sounded and looked like a very spoiled child. I’m embarrassed for our city.
Just so we understand what is happening, this is an article that lists, at the bottom, the salaries of city council members in Alameda County. https://alamedasun.com/news/council-pay-increase-measure-set-november-ballot Out of 14 cities, Pleasanton is in the bottom half.
The Tri-Valley cities are comparable, both in size and compensation.
The vote puts Pleasanton smack in the middle.
The entitlement in the Mayor’s comments is astounding. Making a comparison to the hard working folks at Chick Fil A is also unnecessary and uncalled for — why go there?
The Mayor and two who voted with her didn’t want this to become political? THEY made it political. They considered it such a high priority that they get another $100 a month, as soon as possible. That is why they had to vote for it. They didn’t want to wait another two years for their petty little raises.
Astounding level of entitlement. If the Mayor thinks she’s “worth more” — I encourage her to look for another job. She clearly isn’t doing this one for the right reasons.
I can’t say the discussion was great, but I think the raises are fair. We can certainly ask and expect their discussions to be more enlightened.
Mayor Brown’s remarks at the end of the last City Council meeting were unkind and uncalled for. At the beginning of the meeting, Councilman Jack Balch asked to remove Item 2 from the Consent Calendar. At the end of the meeting, Jack Balch explained that for the sake of transparency he wanted the 10% raise the Council is giving itself discussed further. He believed that the pay raise and the benefits should be discussed at the same meeting. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why Jack was being accused of making this a political issue. This isn’t about the money.
Kathy Narum in her support of Councilman Jack Balch, explained that it is a matter of perception. Council is voting itself a 10% raise while offering staff, police and fire a 3.5% raise.
After further discussion, Mayor Brown questioned why Jack would even bring up such an issue, because she is worth much more than she is being paid. She can earn more at a fast food restaurant. She went on further in an angry tone, when she could have simply stated that she would vote for the 10% raise.
I think the mayor needs to review Pleasanton’s “Community of Character”.
Since Karla Brown is running unopposed, perhaps you are seeing her true self? No need to continue maintaining a facade any longer?
As President Biden lectured last night, democracy depends on all of us giving careful thought about who we vote for.
The question to ask here is does Karla Brown really demonstrate the values that the citizens of Pleasanton want to strive for.
Okay Jan, can I ask whether there have been raises for staff in the last two years? I actually don’t know. But 10% is $1200 ish a year. Whereas 3.5% is $3,500ish a year for the lowest policeman or fireman. Some staff get more; some get less. I understand that police and fire are taking greater risks. So while, again, the discussion could have been elevated, the mention of staff raises seems false.
Arkin, Testa and Brown all wanted to sneak in a 10% raise for themselves while all of the rest of Pleasanton employees are receiving 3 – 3.5%. All 3 of their actions are self-serving, petty and dishonorable. And lacked integrity for trying putting it into the consent calendar (I believe it was Arkin who motioned to put it there last meeting) where it would not receive attention. Brown’s tantrum was just embarrassing. Can we start a write in campaign for someone else?
If Brown and Testa do not like their salary and the burden to their personal lives, they should not have run for re-election. For the city’s sake, I hope Arkin will not run for re-election in 2024. I like what Narum said – being on the council should be an honor and is primarily service to the community. Glad that Balch pulled it from the consent agenda for transparency.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JukLnHzG6GI starts at 3:19:00 to see the live discussion for yourself.
I applaud Balch’s comments about removing barriers to sitting on the council and having the council reflect the city’s population. This group does not.
Arkin mentions 6.5% for inflation for justification but gives only 3.42% for everyone else in Pleasanton. Tries to minimize the percent by just saying it’s just a few dollars. And at the end, tries to gain sympathy that she is hourly at her job and has to take unpaid time off to do this role. So petty and disappointing. Please don’t run again then.
I love Narum’s comments. And she has no political agenda as she is terming out. Solid leadership.
Testa is just bitter sounding.
Brown is so condensing, angry and throwing a tantrum – me, me, me. She needs to review Community of Character for Pleasanton and actually represent this City in a respectable way.
Cmon Kathleen – city staff earn more money because they are salaried staff, not glorified volunteers. And do you know who has voted against staff salary increases in the past? The majority that just voted for their own.
Maybe the mayor thinks that city staff should go work for Chik Fil A as well.
Seeing all the comments and data about raises makes me think the council members who voted yes have learned from the PUSD school board and superintendent.
Give little raises to the little people that do all the work and make sure they give the school district executives really big raises that they really don’t deserve.
Pleasanton a “city of character”?
Maybe the citizens but not the leaders.
Karl A – Arkin was a Trustee for PUSD for 12 years! Maybe it is her modus operandi to completely mismanage the responsibilities of her appointment and then give herself an outsized raise in recognition of a terrible job.
Finally seeing true colors of Mayor Brown, Julie Testa and Valerie Arkin. They should be ashamed to call themselves part of our Community of Character. Write in Kathy Narum for Mayor if you have not voted yet. Karla doesn’t deserve to be an uncontested Mayor of our city. Hope Joel Liu or Yee replaces Testa and hope when Larkin’s term is up she simply fades away. The audacity of the three of them astounds me. And as usual the voices of reason Jack Balch and Kathy Narum. As a citizen of Pleasanton, I apologize to Jack and Kathy that they have to sit on the same council as these three.
These are stipends. The stipends make it possible for members to pay for attendance at a variety of events that the city does not reimburse them for. There are other expenses for printing and so on. For Jack Balch and Kathy Narum to state this job is volunteering is disingenuous. Otherwise, they would give the funds back to the city. It is entirely possible to do so. But they haven’t. So, I have proven we are middle of the pack now of the 14 incorporated cities. It is not outrageous. Quibble about the discussion if you like, but otherwise this is just $1200 more per year.
And I said, JAR, that most of the staff work dangerous jobs.
All quibbling aside, the mayor’s words and actions on Tuesday were embarrassing and uncalled for. To repeat over and over that “I’m worth it” is simply rather surprising. The Chic-Fil-A remark was also completely uncalled for and had no place during her tantrum. She truly seemed unhinged during that segment of the meeting. So much for our Community of Character.
The dollars are so low that the point isn’t the money, it’s the content of Arkin and Brown’s character and incompetence on fully display in this interaction. Narum was willing to do 7% (3.5 * 2 years) instead of 10%. The difference is $36 per month. But Arkin got on her high horse and talked about the devastating effects to her life since she has to take time off from her day-job(?) to do this job for which she actively campaigned; and Brown just cried, “I’m worth it” several times. This misguided, small minded and short sidedness guides all of Brown and Arkin’s Council work to the detriment of Pleasanton.
From the Community of Character website, here is where Arkin and Brown fall dreadfully short from that interaction/vote:
Responsibility: Being accountable for my actions
Self Discipline: Practicing self-control
Honesty: Being Trustworthy
Respect: Being considerate, honoring the feelings of others
Integrity: Building a good reputation
We need new leaders who are actually leaders.