City Council raises salaries for members, the mayor and clerk

Some of Redondo Beach's elected officials will get paid more in the next few years.

The City Council on Tuesday approved a salary increase for the mayor, City Council members and city clerk, some starting next year and others taking effect in 2025. Future mayors and council members will make nearly double what the seat holders currently take home each month from the public service job.

The mayor and council members' salaries will increase from $927 to $1,669 per month,

a $741 increase, while the city clerk's pay will jump from $10,558 to $10,874 per month. The city treasurer's pay will stay the same, however, at $2,083 per month.

Higher paychecks will come into play once the 2023 terms begin for Districts 3 and 5, and in 2025 for Districts 1, 2 and 4. Third District Councilman Christian Horvath and 5th District Councilwoman Laura Emdee's terms end in 2023. The terms of Mayor Bill Brand, 1st District Councilman Nils Nehrenheim, 2nd District Councilman Todd Lowenstein and 4th District Councilman Zein Obagi end in 2025.

The mayor and City Council salaries were last changed in 2013, according to the city's municipal code. The city clerk's salary was last changed in 2015, per the code, receiving 2% increases each year thereafter through 2018.

The salary increases were set to be approved on Tuesday's consent calendar, a list of typically noncontroversial items that councils approve in a single sweeping vote, but Horvath pulled the issue for a separate discussion in disagreement.

Council members ultimately approved the pay raise 3-2, with Horvath and Emdee dissenting.

“I think the council went too far with the salaries,” Horvath said.

Emdee also wasn't in favor of the hike, noting that the Redondo Beach dais is one of the highest paid in the area compared with similar cities.

Obagi accused those opposed to the increase of wanting to reserve the council positions for the privileged few.

“We want to open it up to everybody,” Obagi said. “If this is going to give you enough money that you can afford to take off some time from your day job to do this, that's the message we're sending.

“This job demands a lot, will demand more and we should do everything we can to attract the best people,” he added.

Loewenstein said he doesn't think they're asking for much.

“No one up here will benefit from this,” Loewenstein said, “This is not self-serving, this is to benefit future councils and constituents.”

He noted that he and his colleagues spend about 30 hours per week doing council work, away from their children and spouses. Although they asked to volunteer and serve, a higher incentive wouldn't hurt for future elected officials.

Third District resident Candace Nafissi, who ran for the council in 2019, agreed with the increase at Tuesday's meeting.

“Nobody does this job for the money, but it does change the game to get paid an adequate amount for what you're doing,” Nafissi said Tuesday. “This should not be a job for the privileged; it should be for those who can afford to do it and want to do it wholeheartedly.”

But Horvath disagrees that a bigger offer will be the tipping point for residents who decide to run for office.

“If someone wants to run, they will regardless because they want to serve, that's it,” Horvath said.

Redondo Beach's pay jump is nothing compared to what could come to Hawthorne, however. That city's voters will decide during the Nov. 8 election through Measure I whether to change their town from a general law city to a charter city, like Redondo is, which would come with a council member salary hike from $7,200 to a whopping $75,700.

The large increase is based on the 2021 low-income level for a family of two, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to the city's website.

The Redondo Beach City Council, meanwhile, voted 3-2 to deny a substitute motion from Horvath to send the pay raise issue to voters instead of deciding amongst themselves.