Oakland mayor says she will reject big raise after public criticism

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Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said on Tuesday she would reject any raise above what is legally mandated by the city’s charter, hours before the city council is considering raising her salary by nearly $75,000, at $277,974.54.

Thao said in a statement that she urges the board to set her salary at the lower amount and that if the board authorizes a higher amount at its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday evening, I will reject it and refund any amount that exceeds the minimum required by the Charter for the city to provide services to our neighborhoods.

The lower end of the mandatory salary range would place Thaos’ salary at $216,202.42.

This year, given the significant financial challenges facing the city, I urge the city council to set mayors’ salaries at the lowest amount legally required by the city charter, Thao said. As a leader, I know it’s in the best interest of the city’s financial health, and it’s also the right thing to do.

Thaos’ move comes after public criticism that she could potentially take a huge pay rise amid a historic budget shortfall that necessitated cuts in several departments and delays to programs. Thao previously told The Chronicle that she thought the raise was fair and that she was working hard for the city.

Council member Janani Ramachandran spoke out against a steep pay rise, citing the city’s financial difficulties. Ramachandran said it is not fiscally prudent to invest our limited general funds in such a steep pay rise. Ramachandran noted that 75% of the average salaries for city managers and administrators in the six comparably sized cities would bring Thaos’ salary to $231,645.

City human resources, which demanded the raise, said Thaos’ current annual salary of $202,999.94 falls below the pay rates for general managers in six other California cities with commensurate populations. City staff also noted that his salary was $21,973.86 below the designated annual salary for one of the mayor’s subordinate special assistants, and about $13,000 below the mayor’s potential salary range. mayor set out in the city charter. They proposed raising Thaos’ salary to $277,974.54, the high end of the scale, as required by the city charter.

The city charter requires the city council to review the salary of mayors every two years and set it, the salary should not be less than 70% and not more than 90% of the average salaries of city managers and general managers California cities in the three immediate regions. highest and three immediate lower towns by population to Oakland. The city council had not approved a raise for the position of mayor in 10 years.

In her statement Tuesday, Thao said she plans to bring a voter ballot measure that would give responsibility for setting mayoral salaries to the city’s public ethics commission. The Public Ethics Commission currently sets the salaries of the Municipal Auditor and the Municipal Prosecutor.

I’m convinced that we don’t have to keep doing things the way they’ve always been done and that under my administration we weren’t going to do that, Thao said. The people of Oakland deserve better.

Contact Sarah Ravani: [email protected]; Twitter: @SarRavani

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