Najarian likens working without redevelopment salary to slavery

As city officials worry about losing millions of dollars due to the end of redevelopment, at least one city council member wants to be paid for helping to guide the wind-down.

“Wasn’t slavery outlawed in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution?” asked Councilman Ara Najarian at a council meeting this week.

The request comes after City Council salaries were decreased by 5% in tandem with the state’s mandate to shut down redevelopment agencies, which took effect in February. Lawmakers approved Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to use property tax revenue that has paid for developments such as the Americana at Brand and affordable housing units to help cover the state’s budget shortfall.

As a result, the City Council took on a secondary role as the so-called successor agency, which is in charge of making decisions about how city officials use the limited money they will get from property taxes to pay off existing redevelopment-related obligations, such as millions in bond issuances.

Najarian said that he expects the work to end redevelopment will be extensive, and that the council likely will have weekly meetings to tackle it. The state law does not require successor agencies get paid for their work, but it also doesn’t specifically ban it, city officials said.

Gillian van Muyden, the city’s general counsel for redevelopment, said officials are already looking into the gray zone.

Without a redevelopment stipend, council members make about $27,000 annually, including pension, other stipends and car allowances. The city also covers medical benefits, which comes to an extra outlay of about $250 or $350 per month per council member, depending on healthcare dependents.

Redevelopment used to pay nearly 40% of the council’s salary, but the stipend was reduced last year due to state rules regulating redevelopment pay as a function of population. Glendale’s population fell below 200,000 in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, triggering the stipend reductions.

Councilman Rafi Manoukian said he was unsure if he’d want to push for a stipend, since the amount of work involved is unknown.

“The laws themselves are unclear,” Manoukian said. “It’s kind of premature to even deal with this issue.”

City Manager Scott Ochoa said the state never planned to make dissolving redevelopment easy.

“The idea of them specifically calling out compensation for such local governments really goes against what they had intended,” Ochoa said. “The idea is, ‘We don’t expect you to be paid. We expect you to do this for free.’”

The city may use an estimated $1 million in property taxes it expects to receive during the first year of the wind-down for administration costs. It will also get a smaller amount, which works out to 3% of property tax, in future years as the dissolution continues.

If the council received a stipend for its successor agency role, that money might come from the administrative funds staff needs to pay property rents and redevelopment staff salaries.

A finance report earlier this month said redevelopment funds paid for about 39 full-time positions. Officials have yet to announce whether the end to redevelopment will mean layoffs.

The city’s General Fund may cover $1.9 million worth of salaries and benefits through June, officials have said.

Ochoa said if council members did get a stipend, it would likely be on par with their redevelopment pay of $120 a month.