Politics

S.D. Salary Commission Recommends Change to City Charter

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published February 3, 2010 at 3:00 AM PST

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

San Diego city’s Salary Setting Commission recommends a charter amendment, so the mayor and council don’t have to vote on their own salary increases.

San Diego city’s Salary Setting commission recommends a charter amendment, so the mayor and council don’t have to vote on their own salary increases.

The mayor and city council have not had a pay raise since 2003.

The Salary Setting Commission concludes council members should be getting $175,000 a year instead of $75,000, and the mayor should be getting $235,000 instead of $100,000. Currently 3,400 city employees make more than the elected officials.

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But in view of the political and economic climate, the commission recommends no raise this year and then raises starting with a 15 percent raise next year.

Chairman Mark McMahon, says the current salaries may discourage qualified candidates from running for office.

“We just want to make sure we have the largest pool of qualified candidates to lead the city.” McMahon says. “We are not sure we are getting that when the city council salary is slightly above the median family income for the city of San Diego.”

McMahon says it’s too politically difficult for the council to vote on their own salaries, and the charter should be changed to tie their salaries to comparable jobs in the private or the public sector.

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.