Council Gives Itself a Hefty Little Pay Raise

With little fanfare and no debate, the City Council has given itself a raise for the first time in almost six years--boosting its salary to the level of Civic Arts Plaza theater ushers.

Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to raise their monthly salary from $765 to $1,026 following the November elections. Their annual salary will now total $12,312, up 34% from the less than $10,000 they were earning.

“Congratulations to the council,” Mayor Andy Fox quipped after approving the raise. “It’s well-deserved.”

City officials estimate that council members work 50-hour weeks, which means their pay would amount to about $5 an hour.

Even taxpayer advocates agreed that Thousand Oaks politicians were entitled to more money. Because it is the council’s first raise in six years, the pay hike complies with state law, which only allows an annual 5% boost in salaries for public officials.