Council Approves, Delays Pay Raise : Thousand Oaks: The elected officials give themselves a $79-a-month increase. Criticism forces a year’s postponement.

The Thousand Oaks City Council has voted itself a 10% pay raise but postponed it for at least a year in the face of strong protests.

The 3-1 vote Tuesday night will give council members a $79-a-month pay increase, from $765 to $844 a month. It will not take effect for a year or until the economy improves.

The council added that condition after the increase was questioned by citizens and leaders of the city’s two labor unions. At least one council member agreed that voting for a raise after the city had slashed its budget was a bad idea.

“Even though $79 isn’t much in the scheme of things, it’s whether or not we’re setting the wrong precedent in the community,” Mayor Robert E. Lewis said.

The incumbent council next year will decide if the economy has improved enough to institute the raise. The council Tuesday did not specify how the improvement would be measured.

Some council members defended the pay increase, saying the money does not adequately compensate them for the hours they put in each month on city business.

“We are a volunteer government,” Councilwoman Judy Lazar said. “Almost anybody in this city can be a council member. . . . But it does take a lot of dedication, and I don’t think a lot of people have the time.”

The question of public officials’ salaries and perks has been a sore issue for citizens since Ventura County supervisors and administrators disclosed the thousands of dollars they receive in benefits, said Jere Robings, executive director of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn.

“I think (council members) need to know that the public is concerned, especially after the disclosure at the county,” Robings said.

In addition to their salary, Thousand Oaks council members receive a $150-a-month car allowance, health benefits of 8% and retirement benefits amounting to 13.71% of their salary.

The raise would make council members’ base pay the highest in the county.

However, Councilman Alex Fiore noted that he does not get extra pay for attending meetings as a director of the city’s redevelopment agency, as council members do in Simi Valley. Fiore, a 28-year veteran of the council, also pointed out that for many years, he did not receive a salary for serving on the council.

“If they (citizens) feel this strongly about $79 a month, they better get down to the county,” Fiore said. “It seems to me that they (county officials) get extra vacation pay and bonuses.”

The only other public officials in Thousand Oaks who get paid for their duties are members of the Planning Commission. They receive $250 in pay and $125 in car allowance each month.

The highest paid official in Thousand Oaks is City Manager Grant R. Brimhall, who receives an annual salary of $121,860. Assistant City Manager MaryJane V. Lazz earns $100,464 a year, and City Atty. Mark G. Sellers makes $93,252 a year.

City Council candidate Paul Herzog was the only speaker to support the raise.

“I can’t believe we’re making so much about $79, and we just spent $150,000 to put in plants in front of the auto mall,” he said. “We certainly have enough money in the city to pay that kind of salary.”

But council candidate Ellyn H. Wilkins disagreed.

“I admire your courage, but I question your judgment,” she said. “I’m concerned, like other citizens, that in a tight economy, when there are people losing jobs . . . that you would even consider a raise, that this would even be on your agenda.”

The council’s raise was not overlooked by the city’s two labor unions.

About 100 supervisors and managers who are represented by the Thousand Oaks Management Assn. last year received a 4% pay increase. But the city has not responded to the union’s demand for an 8% increase over the next two years, union President Jeff Knowles said.

“When employees see that kind of a pay increase, red flags go on in their brain,” Knowles said, referring to the council’s pay increase. “The raise we asked for is less than what they asked for.”

Ed Rouch, president of the Thousand Oaks City Employees Assn., said his union is gearing up for talks on a new two-year contract.

“Somewhere in all of their campaign speeches, they say they don’t do it for money,” Rouch said. “We don’t begrudge anybody a pay raise. But we hope they remember us in about four months when we start negotiations.”