New City Manager Awarded 5% Raise

After a year on the job, City Manager Jerry L. Bankston has received a 5% pay increase.

Bankston was hired at an annual salary of $98,000, including benefits. The 5% raise, which was unanimously approved by the City Council last week, boosts Bankston’s pay to $102,900, with benefits. The raise is retroactive to July 1, the date of his one-year anniversary with the city.

The action prompted council candidate Merciline La Porte to oppose the increase.

“The point I’m trying to make is: We are paying this man too much too soon,” La Porte said. “Here’s a guy who was just hired. Now he gets a retroactive raise. I think it’s way out of line when the city is so poor.”

At a meeting last week, La Porte questioned whether the city was giving him an increase so Bankston could afford a beachfront home in Huntington Beach.

Councilman David M. Cheverton told La Porte that her question was inappropriate.

Bankston said the only property he owns is his home in Bellflower.