COSTA MESA : Pay Raise Rejected by City Manager
City Manager Allan Roeder said Monday that he will not accept a 4% salary increase awarded him by the City Council until certain departments in the city improve their performance and their image.
Declining to be more specific about the problems, Roeder told the council members he would spurn the pay hike, which was approved by the council last week.
“I’d rather get these problems squared away,” Roeder said. “The council wants to see some improvements in the way some of our departments operate and since I oversee all departments, I’m going to defer. I think you should earn a pay raise before you receive it.”
Roeder, who earns $120,000 a year, has deferred salary increases in the past. The last increase he accepted was three years ago, but since then he has rejected annual increases because of the city’s fiscal problems.
At the same meeting, the council unanimously approved a 4% raise for City Atty. Thomas Kathe, who now earns $103,000 a year, according to Personnel Director Howard Perkins.
The salary hikes translate to $402 a month more for Roeder and $343 a month more for Kathe, who said he would accept his raise.
Kathe’s raise was to go into effect immediately and includes a boost in monthly benefits from $520 to $739.
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