SIMI VALLEY : Council OKs 1.5% Raises for 2 Officials

The Simi Valley City Council voted unanimously Monday to give 1.5% pay raises to City Manager Lin Koester and City Atty. John Torrance, who were found in a recent survey to be Ventura County’s highest paid officials in these positions.

The council’s decision focused on merit raises, since Koester and Torrance signed waivers earlier this month saying they would forgo the annual cost-of-living increases to which they are entitled under their employment contracts, in effect since 1986.

Council members said the city could not afford to give the men large pay raises, but said they wanted to recognize the administrators’ professionalism and service.

Last year, the two men received no merit raises but did get 2.4% cost-of-living increases, city officials said.

Koester and Torrance were eligible for 3.04% cost-of-living increases this year, but decided not to accept them “in view of current economic conditions and uncertainty regarding future city revenues,” said Laura Herron, acting general services director, in a report to the council.

Koester’s base pay in 1992 was $120,069, but deferred salary and other benefits pushed his total compensation to $175,248. Torrance received base pay of $105,534, but with benefits, his total compensation was $139,430. The 1.5% pay raises, which were effective Monday, are calculated on the officials’ base pay.

A survey of Ventura County’s 10 cities, compiled by The Times in November, found that all other city managers and city attorneys earned less than Koester and Torrance, respectively.

Last month, Thousand Oaks City Manager Grant Brimhall, who is paid $156,000 in salary and benefits, turned down a $6,000 merit raise because of budget constraints.