Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Palmdale OKs 3-Year Pact Extension for City Official : Government: The contract revision for the town’s top administrator does not call for an increase in his $111,240 annual salary.

Saying he wants to provide continuity in Palmdale, City Administrator Bob Toone requested--and received--a three-year contract extension 16 months before his contract was to have expired.

Toone’s $111,240 annual salary was not increased as part of the contract revision, approved in a 3-1 vote Thursday with Councilwoman Teri Jones dissenting and Councilman Jim Root absent. The only change made in the contract was a change of its expiration date from Dec. 31, 1994, to Dec. 31, 1997.

The change in Toone’s contract comes just a month after neighboring Lancaster provided its city manager with a three-year contract extension and an additional 42 paid days off through August, 1997, a benefit estimated to be worth $19,000. The Lancaster City Council planned to contribute an extra $36,048 to City Manager Jim Gilley’s state retirement fund but decided on the less-costly paid time off after a public outcry.

The change in Toone’s contract provoked no public comments, only concern from Jones, who argued that the agreement should be left “to run its term” before being considered for extension.

Councilman David Myers, describing the extension as “largely a symbolic act,” said giving Toone three more years on his contract is a deserved reward for a job well done.

Toone was hired as Palmdale’s top administrator in 1986. His contract was last amended in September, 1991, when he received a 12.6% salary hike.