The Santa Cruz City Council introduced an ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting to give themselves pay raises.
The idea was proposed as a way to help remove financial obstacles for prospective councilmembers and residents who may not want to run for office because of the job’s pay rate.
“Equitable compensation at all levels of the city team is really important,” said Vice Mayor Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson at the meeting. “Representation really matters, and so we want to ensure that that compensation isn’t the barrier that’s keeping folks from running and wanting to serve in this capacity.”
The Santa Cruz City Charter allows salaries of the mayor and councilmembers to be increased via ordinance at a rate of no more than 5% annually. The last time these salaries were adjusted was in 2017.
Councilmembers in Santa Cruz currently earn around $1,710 a month while mayors make double that amount at $3,420 a month.
Following the 5% annual adjustment allowed as stated in the City Charter, the proposed ordinance recommends that city councilmembers earn monthly salaries of $2,653 and that the mayor earns $5,306.
City Councilmember Susie O’Hara called the raises “nominal” and “very modest.”
She added that due to the high cost of living and expensive rental market in Santa Cruz, serving on the City Council has often not been an option for those with limited incomes. She said that many city councilmembers have been from the city’s more affluent west side.
“You have to be very privileged to sit in this space,” she said. “Historically, council has been represented by mostly ‘Westsiders,’ mostly retired folks, mostly folks that can do this job for little or no pay. That is not who we ultimately want representing the city moving forward.”
City Councilmember Gabriela Trigueiro, a single mom, said the raise would “vastly change” her ability to manage her budget. Trigueiro said she has considered leaving her seat due to financial and housing security challenges.
“If I’m not able to continue my full term… I ‘m really thankful we’re doing this,” she said to the council while getting choked up.
City Councilmember Renee Golder was initially opposed to the idea of a pay raise when it was first floated. But her position changed after she wasn’t able to find any candidates who wanted to run for her seat.
“In the two years I spent trying to find a candidate to replace me, I couldn’t find anybody,” she said. “The littlest bit of compensation can certainly help with that.”
O’Hara acknowledged that the idea of city councilmembers deciding on their own compensation rate is “an uncomfortable position to be in” but that “there is no compensation that is high enough” for the work done by councilmembers.
‘Not self-serving at all’
City Councilmember Sonja Brunner said that the purpose of the raise is to attract a more diverse pool of candidates for City Council.
“This is not self-serving at all,” she said. “It’s for the next generations. It’s for the future.”
The proposal recommends that if the ordinance is eventually passed, the new salary rates will become effective in September.
Mayor Fred Keeley suggested that the proposed raise for the mayor’s position go into effect upon the swearing in of the next mayor in January 2027. Keeley’s term concludes at the end of this year, and a runoff election for the next mayor will take place in November.
The council unanimously agreed to propose the pay raise ordinance and it will return to the council for a future vote.
