37% raise for Oakland Mayor Thao is excessive and tone deaf

The Oakland metropolis administrator’s advice of a 37% increase for Mayor Sheng Thao is extreme, an insult to taxpayers and tone deaf to town’s fiscal plight.

At a time when Oakland officers needs to be seeking to management prices, Metropolis Administrator Jestin Johnson proposes that Thao obtain a pay increase that’s fully out of proportion with different mayors throughout the state.

Thao, who has been mayor simply six months, nominated Johnson for his $340,000-a-year submit. Then, lower than 4 weeks after he began his job, he signed off on a advice that the Metropolis Council improve Thao’s wage from $203,000 yearly to $277,975.

Metropolis Council members are anticipated to contemplate the mayor’s wage hike Tuesday. Most annoying are the misinformation and questionable rationales they’ve acquired from Johnson to justify it.

Oakland is the eighth most populous metropolis in California, far behind the highest 4 — Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco. However the increase would make Thao the third-highest-paid mayor in California, in keeping with state information, behind solely San Francisco and Los Angeles.

These cities have, respectively, double and 9 instances Oakland’s inhabitants of 431,000 individuals. And the mayors there have far larger tasks and authority than Thao.

San Francisco and Los Angeles are so-called “robust mayor” cities during which the mayor serves because the chief government, liable for the administration of town, and has veto authority that may solely be overturned by two-thirds of the governing board.

In Oakland, town administrator, not the mayor, is accountable to the Metropolis Council for the administration of town. And the mayor can solely rent town administrator with the consent of the council, though she will be able to independently fireplace him.

Not like in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Oakland’s mayor doesn’t have veto authority that may solely be overridden by a supermajority. However, Johnson’s advice to the Metropolis Council for an enormous pay increase for Thao perpetuates the parable that Oakland has a typical strong-mayor authorities.

Johnson’s report was ready by Ian Appleyard, town’s human sources director, who retired on June 30, the day town administrator signed off on the advice and despatched it to the Metropolis Council.

To make certain, beneath town constitution, Thao is due a increase however nothing on the dimensions that town administrator is proposing.

The constitution requires the Metropolis Council to evaluation the mayor’s wage in odd-numbered years. The mayor’s wage beneath the constitution is to be not lower than 70% nor greater than 90% of the common salaries of town managers of the six California cities with the three speedy larger and the three speedy decrease populations.

It’s a nonsensical commonplace and comparability. Metropolis managers or directors are normally extremely educated professionals with years of training and expertise in municipal administration and finance. Their ability units and tasks are fully totally different from these of a mayor.

However, that’s the usual within the constitution and the one which the council should apply. However there’s nothing within the constitution that requires the council to present the mayor the best pay within the 70%-90% vary. And positively not at a time when town faces great monetary challenges.

In accordance with the report, the common pay of metropolis managers of the three instantly extra populous cities — Fresno, Sacramento and Lengthy Seaside — and the three instantly much less populous — Bakersfield, Anaheim and Stockton — is $308,861.

From that, 70% to 90% works out to $216,202-$277,975. Below the constitution, that’s the vary the Oakland Metropolis Council should work with because it units the mayor’s wage.

Johnson’s report claims that Oakland is a strong-mayor metropolis and means that the wage of the mayor of Fresno needs to be given larger weight than the opposite 5 comparability cities as a result of that metropolis is the one different one with a strong-mayor authorities.

The report is right about Fresno’s authorities construction. The mayor there holds government tasks, together with solely hiring and firing the administrator, and veto authority. However, opposite to the declare within the report that the Fresno mayor makes $266,796 a 12 months, he at the moment makes lower than half that and is scheduled to obtain hikes that can deliver his annual wage in 2025 to $181,000.

In different phrases, Fresno’s mayor leads a considerably bigger metropolis, has much more duty and even two years from now gained’t make as a lot as Thao makes now.

So why is Johnson recommending that the council approve the utmost attainable pay, and the third-highest mayoral pay within the state, for somebody who has been in workplace simply six months?

Right here’s the place the dialogue loses fiscal rationality and raises considerations that the brand new metropolis administrator may be extra serious about pleasing the mayor who chosen him than good public coverage and defending the general public coffers.

Johnson’s workplace mentioned town administrator was not concerned in any discussions with the mayor about her wage improve.

Johnson argues within the report back to the Metropolis Council that the mayor ought to make greater than her prime “particular assistant,” whom she employed on the prime finish of the wage scale ($136,727-$224,974 yearly) for the job.

The mayor shouldn’t be rewarded with a wage hike simply because she selected to pay an assistant prime greenback. Extra considerably, if the purpose is to make sure that the mayor receives extra pay than her assistant, that may very well be completed for $50,000 much less per 12 months than town administrator is recommending.

The proposed improve is extreme, and the political optics are horrible for the progressive mayor. Credit score Metropolis Councilmember Janani Ramachandran, normally a Thao ally, with the braveness to talk out towards the pay increase.

“Now we have individuals making minimal wage,” she says. “If we’re going to speak about salaries, let’s begin there.”