Council OKs Raise for Its Members

The City Council has unanimously approved a 10% salary increase for its members to $618 per month.

The $57 monthly raise takes effect after the new council elected this fall is seated in December.

“This is essentially a nominal salary for our City Council members,” Mayor Murray Rosenbluth said. “We have increased the salaries of our police officers . . . and other city personnel through negotiated contracts. The increase in salary for council members reflects a cost-of-living increase received by all our employees.”

The pay hike for council members is standard procedure for the city, taken up every two years prior to the election, Rosenbluth said.

“State law does not allow legislators to increase their own salaries, but we must look to the future and that is what we have done,” he said.

The city does not pay a higher salary to its mayor because the position is not directly elected by residents, Rosenbluth said.

City Clerk Karen Jackson said the increase will cost the city $3,953 per year, including the cost of the city’s 7.65% Social Security and 7% public employees retirement plan contributions.

The state Government Code permits council salaries to be boosted no more than 5% each calendar year, Jackson said.

Camarillo council members earn a monthly salary of $500, Oxnard council members receive $600, Ventura council members earn $600 (its mayor receives $700), and Santa Paula council members are paid $300 a month.

Council members also are reimbursed for city-related expenses.