Thousand Oaks Increases Pay for 2 Officials

Despite complaints that the timing is inappropriate, the Thousand Oaks City Council agreed Tuesday night to a pay raise of $7,312 for City Manager Grant Brimhall and $2,937 for City Atty. Mark Sellers.

The vote was 3 to 1 with Councilwoman Jamie Zukowski dissenting. Elois Zeanah was absent.

The raises are retroactive to October, 1993, giving the top officials an unexpected windfall just before Christmas.

“I don’t think there is a better city manager in the state,” said Mayor Alex Fiore, who proposed the pay increases at his last regular council meeting before retirement. “And it is tough to go three or four years without any improvement in salary.”

Brimhall, who has been mentioned as a possible replacement for departing county chief administrator Richard Wittenberg, has not received a raise on his base salary of $121,860 in three years.

Two years ago, he declined a 5% merit raise offered to him, citing the poor economic conditions facing the city. On Tuesday, he said he would accept this 6% raise.

“Whatever they feel is fine,” Brimhall said. “Most of it would go to charity anyway.”

Councilwoman Jamie Zukowski said the pay raise should not have been introduced at a time when the council is in such flux.

“I don’t believe that it is good policy to have this question before a council that is about to seat two new members,” she said.

Fiore is retiring at the end of the month, and Councilman Frank Schillo is leaving office to join the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

Calling the pay raise a “final Fiore moment” in public comments, resident Ekbal Quidwai asked that the measure be denied.

“For a council that has two people departing to vote on this, I don’t consider proper,” he said.

But Fiore bristled at the suggestion of waiting until a new council is seated to vote on the raise, saying that the increases are based on past work by the two officials.

“I don’t know how a brand new person coming in could judge their work for the last two years,” he said.

Fiore said the council needed to bring Brimhall’s salary in line with other cities of similar size. Brimhall makes less than city managers in Burbank, Sunnyvale, Santa Monica, Irvine and Simi Valley.

“In Camarillo, I understand the city manager started at $99,000 a year,” he said. “Our city is over twice as large. We are talking about a budget of $70 (million) to $80 million a year, and Grant is in charge of an excess of 400 employees.”

With benefits and perks, Brimhall’s total compensation will be about $163,000, making him the second highest paid city manager in the county behind Simi Valley City Manager Lin Koester, who makes $185,160, including benefits.

Sellers’ $97,920 salary will be boosted to $100,857. He had last received a merit raise of 5% in December, 1992. He also receives a benefits package worth more than $20,000.

Councilwoman Judy Lazar praised both officials.

“It’s been three years since they got raises,” she said. “I think if we had dealt with our city employees in the same fashion, we would have had some very unhappy employees. I think the city manager has done an outstanding job and the city attorney has been very effective.”