Council Leaps Through Loophole Into Sixfold Raise

A little more than a year after voters turned down a modest salary increase for the Pasadena City Council, council members on Tuesday voted to multiply their pay by almost sixfold.

In a 4-3 vote, the council gave the city’s Community Development Commission, whose members are the seven council members, a raise to $2,950 monthly. The vote came in a commission meeting without a public hearing.

Before the vote, council members were paid $50 a meeting, the same amount allotted for members of the commission, which usually meets weekly and on the same day as the council. The maximum total pay was $500 monthly from both bodies.

The raise voted Tuesday comes after 56% of city voters turned down a proposed $935 monthly salary for the council in June, 1990.

According to the City Charter, council pay raises must be approved by voters. But council members William Paparian and Isaac Richard, who proposed the pay increase last week, took advantage of a legal loophole that allows the City Council to set the salary of the Development Commission.

Deputy City Atty. Ted Reynolds said only about five cities statewide have that ability. Otherwise, Reynolds said, city council members who also meet as redevelopment agencies in cities of less than 200,000 population are limited to $30 per meeting under state law.

Council member Rick Cole and Mayor Jess Hughston also voted for the raises.

Members Kathryn Nack, William Thomson and Chris Holden opposed the measure. “I’m stunned,” said Holden. “It’s kind of an empty feeling; in seven days an issue is raised and before you know it the salary is at $3,000 a month.”