ANAHEIM : Meeting Will Decide Measures for Ballot

Voters may be asked in March whether they want to triple council members’ salaries and pay a special tax for more police officers.

The City Council is also discussing whether to ask voters in the special election to drop the requirement that the mayor be a member of the council, thereby opening the race to any Anaheim resident.

The council will hold a special meeting today to meet the Dec. 7 deadline for deciding which measures to include in the March election, which was called to vote on a proposed mobile home rent control ordinance.

The salary proposal would increase council members’ monthly pay to $1,200, one of the highest rates in the county. The mayor of Newport Beach receives just over $1,370 monthly, and council members in Santa Ana, Orange and Irvine make about $600 monthly.

That proposal was shelved in the November election when it became a heated campaign issue among council candidates.

Councilman Irv Pickler recommended doubling the council salary to $800, which the mayor now receives. The council also will consider that today.

Mayor Fred Hunter proposed the tax for more officers, which he dubbed the Public Safety Assessment, and suggested taking an advisory vote in March.

The Police Department estimates it needs 40 more officers and 20 other employees to work as dispatchers, clerks and mechanics and in other supportive positions.

Hunter estimated that the proposal would cost $4.15 million a year, and that the tax would be needed for 10 to 15 years. City officials have not estimated what the tax would be per person or household, nor do they expect to offer an estimate on the ballot.

Councilmen Tom Daly and William D. Ehrle expressed support for Hunter’s proposal. “The longer we procrastinate, the worse it’ll get,” Ehrle said.

Additional measures that failed in the November election, or were not put on the ballot because of space considerations, may also be included in March.