On July 12 the El Cajon City Council was scheduled to vote to pass an ordinance giving the mayor and city council members a 10% raise, and a resolution to raise their cafeteria benefit allotment discussed at a June 28 council meeting.
On Tuesday City Manager Graham Mitchell asked the item be removed from the agenda and moved to the next council meeting in light of the absence of Mayor Bill Wells and Council member Gary Kendrick.
Staff recommended the maximum adjustment of five percent for each year since the last increase, giving the opportunity to give a 10% raise, noting that inflation increased by around 14% over the past two years. This brings the mayor’s salary set at $3,167 per month, an increase of $288, and council member’s salary set at $2,194 per month, an increase of $198. The Cafeteria Benefit Allotment for the mayor and council members is $1,350 per month
Salaries were last modified in June 2019 with rates going into effect in January 2021, the first raise for the mayor and council members since 2005. The approved salary increases cannot take effect until after the term of one council member ends, which means that the raise cannot go into effect until after the November 2022 elections, becoming effective January 2023.
The mayor and council positions are part-time. Staff estimated that the annual impact of the salary increase is $12,960, plus associated pension costs. The adjustment in cafeteria benefit allotment from $1,200 to $1,350 per month results in an annual cost of $9,000. In comparison, city staff’s cafeteria benefit will increase to $1,250 per month in January 2023. Mitchell said in comparison with nine other comparable cities, this places El Cajon in the middle where salaries are concerned.
At the June 28 open hearing, Council member Steve Goble said with staff only getting a 2.4% increase in salary, he wanted to modify the ordinance to 2.5% each year, totaling a five percent raise.
“I do not think we should take more than staff got which was 2.5% for each of the past two years,” he said.
Deputy Mayor Michelle Metschel agreed with Goble saying that she did not run for office for the money, although the cafeteria and pension benefits helped.
Goble made a counter motion for a five percent raise over the past two years rather than 10%, which failed with Wells, and council members Kendrick and Phil Ortiz voting no. Ortiz made a motion for the City Council salary original ordinance change and cafeteria benefit resolution, which passed with Goble and Metschel voting no.
Kendrick said that the council went several years with no raises at all in the past.
“If you do not keep up with the market you are going to have a hard time getting qualified people unless they are retired or independently wealthy,” he said.
Ortiz said the difference between the 2.5% and five percent was negligible.
“We are essentially voting for whoever seats in this seat to have this pay,” he said. “I have sat in this seat, and I know it takes a lot of time and effort. Whether I get elected or not is outside of this because it is for person who is going to get elected to sit in this seat.”
