Retiring Official’s Pay Hike Questioned
The Long Beach City Council has asked its Water Commission to rescind the $10,346 pay raise granted to its retiring general manager earlier this month.
The commission voted unanimously Oct. 1 to increase J. Dan Davis’s $94,000 salary by 11.7%. Davis announced in August that he will retire at the end of the year and with the raise, his pension will increase by $5,000 to a total of $48,000 annually.
“I don’t think any explanation at this time is a good one,” Vice Mayor Jeffrey A. Kellogg said Tuesday. “To give anyone a golden parachute at this time is wrong.”
City executive salaries have been frozen since 1991 because of the recession, but the Water Commission operates independently, even though Mayor Ernie Kell appoints the commissioners.
The commission plans to reconsider the raise at its Thursday meeting. Water Commission President Halcyon Ball said he and the commissioners “have strong feelings on the matter,” but he declined to comment further.
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