Hermosa Beach : Council Raises Its Salary

Taking advantage of a state law that allows them to increase their salaries, City Council members voted Tuesday night to give themselves a $100 monthly pay raise. The increase, which sets council salaries at $300 a month beginning in April, is the maximum allowed under the state law.

Council members currently make $150 a month, but that was scheduled to jump to $200 in April under a raise approved by the council in 1984. Since then, state law has been changed, allowing the larger increase.

Councilman Gary Brutsch, whose term expires in April and who is not seeking reelection, voted against the raise, but the other council members approved--and defended--the hike. The increase will cost $6,000 annually.

“It is totally justified,” said Councilman George Barks, a three-term councilman who is seeking reelection in April. “I don’t think it is unreasonable.”

Etta Simpson, a council candidate, urged the council to forgo the increase in light of budget cutbacks the city has been forced to make in the last year. “It’s really more a matter of principle than serious concern over the city budget tolerating this relatively small budget burden,” she wrote in a letter to the council.