NATIONAL CITY COUNCIL CLOSES IN ON BIG SALARY INCREASE

A 30 percent salary raise for National City elected officials moved closer to approval, following a divided City Council vote last week.

In a 3-2 vote, council members approved an ordinance reflecting the pay raises, which still requires a second vote to formalize the changes. Vice Mayor Luz Molina and Councilmember Marcus Bush opposed the move.

The salary increase would mark the first that council members would receive since February 2017.

Under the ordinance, the full-time mayoral post jumps from a base pay of $4,532 to $5,891 per month and part-time council positions from $1,189 to $1,546.

The City Council also receives benefits and about $350 per month in expense allowances and a $750 monthly car allowance for the mayor. No changes to benefits were made.

A 30 percent increase will add an estimated $36,500 of new expenditures to the city’s general fund, according to city staff.

On Jan. 17, council members agreed in a 4-1 vote to bring an ordinance forward to consider the 30 percent increase.

Mayor Ron Morrison cast a single vote in opposition, saying 30 percent was too high. He did not suggest an alternative. Council members in support of the raise said in January that when breaking down the new monthly salaries per hour, the amounts are not significant.

When Councilmember Marcus Bush asked Morrison last week to elaborate on his disapproval, Morrison said that he was “taken aback a little bit. I was not anticipating it being pushed to 30 percent.”

Bush then made an unsuccessful motion to bifurcate the salary increases: a 30 percent raise for council members and 15 percent for the mayor. Rodriguez supported the proposal.

They said the difference is in the numbers and a 15 percent raise for the mayor would be “more equitable.”

“15 percent of $4,500 is not the same as 15 percent of $1,200. Right? The difference is great,” said Rodriguez.

Morrison disagreed with the motion, saying that percentages “should be across the board.”

State law allows local governments to increase their members’ base compensation by 5 percent each year from the date of the last increase.

Before 2017, the National City Council received a pay hike in 2015. The mayor’s salary was $4,120 and the council members’ $1,081. In 2020, the City Council also considered pay raises, but due to the pandemic, no raises were approved, officials said.

In South County, Imperial Beach’s mayor earns $800 per month and council members $641. The Chula Vista mayor’s annual base pay is $152,500 and council members earn $61,000.