New Burbank city manager’s base salary will be nearly $300,000

The incoming Burbank city manager is slated to become the highest paid public official in the tri-city region, with a nearly $300,000 salary that had been marketed early on in an effort to recruit “top talent.”

With a starting salary of $24,166 a month plus a monthly $1,800 relocation allowance for up to 18 months, Mark Scott will make more than the city managers of Glendale and Pasadena and the mayor of Los Angeles.

Not including the relocation allowance, Scott will earn $290,000 annually, according to the contract brokered with the city.

Before Scott was hired, the base salary range for the Burbank city manager was $13,994 to $18,402 a month, or $167,928 to $220,824 annually. Former City Manager Mike Flad’s starting salary was $18,117 a month.

But the council raised the stakes earlier this year when it advertised a $260,000 to $300,000 annual salary range for the position after the executive search firm hired to spearhead recruitment said the city’s existing range wouldn’t attract the best candidates.

“I recommended to the council that their current salary range was too low and we would not be successful in attracting a really strong candidate pool,” said Bobbi Peckham, of Peckham & McKenney, an executive search firm.

City Council members — who were expected to approve the final contract Tuesday night — said earlier this week that they weren’t disappointed.

“If you want the best, you have to be prepared to pay the most competitive wage,” Councilman Jess Talamantes said Tuesday. “We weren’t looking for an average city manager.”

ALSO:

LAPD scales back ambush manhunt; fourth detainee released

Moby to play at Garcetti inauguration Sunday night at City Hall

Man accused of killing neighbor who complained about fireworks