Come January, Gilroy’s mayor and city councilmembers could see a more than 50% raise in their salaries.
Gilroy City Council’s vote Monday to increase their pay is part of a growing trend throughout the state to improve compensation and attract more residents to run for office, though some have raised concerns that the money could be better used on other needs, such as the city’s public safety shortage.
“I don’t know if the public realizes how many hours we actually put in as council members … each one of us works really hard, and I feel like we should be compensated for it,” said Councilmember Carol Marques at the meeting, who noted that she often put in over 20 hours a week on the job. “I think it’s only fair to … make this a job that you know people would look forward to having.”
Currently, Gilroy city councilmembers make $1,022 a month, with the mayor making $1,533 a month. They are also offered insurance benefits through the city. Should the ordinance pass, salaries would jump to $1,600 and $2,400 a month, respectively, starting in January, totaling to $19,200 and $28,800 annually.
Supporters argued the raise would attract more residents to consider running for council, including more diverse and low-income community members. “We’re a working class community, and historically, haven’t had a diverse Council,” said Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz at an April 8 meeting discussing the issue. “I think having adequate pay … encourages working people … It affords them an opportunity to be up here.”
However, not everyone was on board with the potential increase. “What you guys do is hard work and it’s volunteerism and it should stay that way,” said resident Terence Fugazzi at the April meeting, who argued that the money could be better spent on public safety. “If we did want to have diversity of people on the dais, let’s use a sliding scale.”
The increase would cost the city an extra $52,020 a year.
“I know it’s a small amount, but … I think any additional funding we have should go to our first responders,” said Councilmember Fred Tovar, who was the sole dissenting voice in the 6-1 vote to move forward with the motion, which awaits final approval at a future council meeting.
The move follows the passage of SB 329 last year, which allows cities to raise the compensation of city councilmembers based on city size and inflation. That bill saw a rash of cities throughout the Bay Area bump the salaries of their city councils, including Palo Alto, Fremont, Los Altos, San Mateo, Hayward, and Alameda.
While Gilroy is a charter city, making it exempt from certain state-wide laws, the city staff opted to propose salaries in line with similar-sized cities across the state: the increase matches a recent salary hike in Dublin, for example.
Nearby Morgan Hill, with a smaller population of around 45,000, adopted a resolution in January to bump monthly salaries fourfold from $313 for city council and $834 for the mayor to $1,275 and $3,367, respectively.
“I don’t think anybody would believe that this is all you need to live on,” said Mayor Marie Blankley. “It’s trying to bring Gilroy closer in line to what would not discourage people from running for office.”
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