Pomona : Action on Salary Hikes Delayed

Approval of a controversial salary increase for management-level city employees was delayed by the City Council this week after one council member said she still did not have enough information to make a decision.

Non-management employees have protested the council’s plan to raise management salaries, which are 9% to 13% below salaries for similar jobs in comparable cities. In defending management raises, city officials said that the salary adjustment process began two years ago, when lower-level employees began to get increases. Officials maintain that it is only fair to allow increases for management.

Councilwoman Donna Smith said her request for study sessions has been ignored, and that she will not vote on the issue until she has more information about how the city staff conducted the survey upon which the adjustment recommendations are based. Mayor G. Stanton Selby repeated his concern that the adjustment comes at a time when the city is facing a $1.3-million deficit and is asking general service employees to go without a cost-of-living increase this year to help save money.

Councilman Jay Gaulding warned, however, that the city would lose some of its best management personnel if the adjustment is not approved. The council is scheduled to vote on the adjustment again Feb. 1, after study sessions are concluded.