Supervisors, City Council in Line for 12.5% Raises

By signing a new state budget, Gov. Gray Davis also indirectly boosted pay by 12.5% for the Los Angeles City Council and county Board of Supervisors, raising their salaries to $133,051 by Jan. 1.

The latest raises come less than a year after two other salary adjustments increased council pay by 6.5%.

The state budget raises pay 12.5% for Superior Court judges. City Council and county supervisor salaries, funded from local budgets, are tied to the pay of judges.

Although most council offices were closed Monday, several council members said they would not accept the raises, or would accept only what other city employees are getting.

“I don’t know how we deserve that kind of pay increase, but nobody else who works for the city does,” Councilwoman Laura Chick said. “It’s way out of whack.”

Chick, a candidate for city controller in April, said she would accept a raise equivalent to that received by the bulk of city blue-collar workers--2% on July 1 and 2% on Jan. 1. That would increase Chick’s salary to $108,000.

Council members Cindy Miscikowski and Alex Padilla, who are running for reelection, may donate a portion of the raise. Padilla said most of his raise would go toward building a Children’s Museum near Hansen Dam.

Councilman Mike Feuer, a candidate for city attorney, said he would reject the entire raise, as he has done since he was reelected in 1997, keeping his salary at $98,000.

“He was elected to serve at that level and he didn’t think it was fair to voters to accept pay hikes that they didn’t have any say about,” said Daniel Hinerfeld, a spokesman for Feuer.

At the county level, Supervisor Mike Antonovich said he would give part of his raise to charitable groups serving youth and the homeless.

Voters approved an ethics reform ballot measure in 1990 that tied the salaries of elected city officials to the pay received by Municipal Court judges, who were later merged with the Superior Court bench. The link was made to take decisions on salaries away from those affected.

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“That linking of the salary to the judges was an appropriate step,” said Tim Lynch, a spokesman for City Controller Rick Tuttle. Under the formula approved by voters, Tuttle will receive a raise to $140,000.

“We don’t think that policy is justified whatsoever,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. “There is a complete disconnect between the merits of raising judges’ salaries and those of the Los Angeles City Council.

“They want to be able to get pay increases and escape the political heat,” Coupal said.

Most of the raise for judges in Davis’ budget--8.5% taking effect Jan. 1, 2001--was proposed to bring California judges’ salaries more in line with the pay of other government lawyers, according to Lynn Holton of the State Judicial Council.

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“We looked at how to keep judges on the bench and found that pay and benefits were some of the top reasons they left,” Holton said.

There is no such problem with council members, Coupal said.

“If the council members were to vacate their position, there would be a line of people to take their place,” Coupal said. In fact, in one council race next year there are already eight announced candidates.

The 8.5% raise funded in the budget will not be finalized until the state Legislature adopts implementing legislation, which is scheduled for consideration later this week, Holton said. The budget also provides a 4% cost-of-living raise on Sept. 1.

Mark Tarnawsky, an official of a union representing county workers, said the supervisors have offered them a raise of only 3%.

“If there is that much money [for supervisors’ raises], we should be looking for substantial increases,” Tarnawsky said.

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Pay raises

New state budget will help boost salaries of the Los Angeles City Council to $133,051.