Oakland City Council members will get a raise that boosts their salaries above the $100,000 mark.
The 6.3% pay increase was unanimously approved Wednesday by the city’s Public Ethics Commission. It is based on the Consumer Price Index in the region over the past two years.
The raise will increase council members’ annual salary from $97,480.55 to $103,621.82. The commission will adjust their salaries again after two years to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index.
During the meeting, some public speakers questioned whether the commission should be setting the salaries, as it’s done since the 1990s. Before then, the council used to set its own salary.
Although the city charter requires it to raise council members’ salaries by at least the same percentage as the increase in the Consumer Price Index, the commission can boost their pay even higher, up to 5% per year or 10% over two years.
Former commissioner Ralph Kanz said the commission’s main role is to enforce the city’s transparency and ethics laws, so raising council members’ salaries is “not an appropriate forum.”
Whitney Barazoto, the commission’s executive director, said commissioners could discuss whether to continue raising council salaries at an upcoming retreat, but noted the city charter would have to be changed if they decide to stop doing so.
Zennie Abraham, who operates a local media company, said salary increases should be based on performance evaluations and not be automatic. “I think it’s a good idea to at least have a discussion of how these raises should go,” he said.
Commission chair Arvon Perteet said tying pay to council performance “would be pretty subjective” and could get highly politicized, but acknowledged that a change in the process may be worth considering.
Commissioner Joseph Tuman said he’s open to having another group involved in the salary setting process.
“It’s not a bad thing to have maybe performance evaluations and standards, goals you set for people to meet,” he said.
Tuman also noted he doesn’t consider council members’ salaries for full-time work to be high.
“We’re talking about $100,000 before taxes for people who work really hard,” Tuman said. “After you factor in cost of living in Oakland and taxes, it’s not a lot to live on.”