Eureka Council Moves Toward Putting Pay Raises Before Voters

Eureka City Council from left to right: Renee Contreras-DeLoach, Ward 5; Scott Bauer, Ward 4; Mayor Kim Bergel; G. Mario Fernandez, Ward 3; Kati Moulton, Ward 2; Leslie Castellano, Ward 1.

Eureka voters may soon be weighing in on what the work of city leaders is worth as a first step toward asking them to approve councilmember and mayor pay raises has been taken.

At an April 7 special meeting, the City Council directed staff to draft an ordinance to place pay raises on the Nov. 3 election ballot.

Though the exact numbers won’t be determined until two public hearings are held, councilmembers generally supported doubling their current pay of $500 a month and doing the same for the mayor.

The city’s charter needs to be changed to effect pay hikes, necessitating voter approval.

City Attorney Robert Black said the current councilmember pay rate has been in place for 38 years.

“And given the nature of the economy and the inflation that has been a rather steady element over the last 38 years, the current city council monthly salary of $500 is truly out of date,” he continued. “The same thing can be said about the mayor’s monthly salary of $625.”

Another aspect of potential ballot measure language is setting annual pay raises in line with cost of living increases. Black said state law has pay standards for charter government cities, which Eureka is, and allows raises of up to 5 percent a year.

The pay councilmembers now get was described as a barrier to running for office.

Councilmember Kati Moulton said she “works three jobs” but has “a lot of support in my life,” which others who want to participate in local government might not have.

“My neighborhood is full of working families and it’s a challenge,” she said. “And I think that for people to be fairly represented by somebody that really knows what it’s like, that represents them, we need to be able to compensate people for their time in a way that they can afford to do it … I don’t think we should just be relying on being represented by people who can afford to not work or to work for something nominal.”

Speaking “as another council member hustling three jobs,” Councilmember Leslie Castellano – who is being termed out this year and won’t be affected by any pay change – said raising pay is a nod to “the sense of labor and responsibility to folks who are working class” and will “make sure that more people have access to serve in these positions.”

“I think everyone up here works outside of this – no one up here is retired,” said Councilmember Mario Fernandez. “So this isn’t something that any of us take on as a full-time job because we all have that in one way or another. We would love to treat this as a full-time job, but that’s just not how it works and so at least this gets it a little closer.”

Councilmember Scott Bauer said pay raises will be especially relevant for future councilmembers. “It provides enough for them to survive because right now it doesn’t do that for anybody,” he continued.

Further support for pay hikes came from Councilmember Renee Contreras-DeLoach, who said current pay makes for “almost a volunteer position” and if pay would be based on part-time hours at minimum wage, it would be $1,400 a month.

Mayor Kim Bergel said raising the pay rate is “long overdue” and will “open up an opportunity for people who, like us, have day jobs.”

The council asked staff to draft an ordinance doubling current pay rates for councilmembers and the mayor and setting five percent as a maximum annual increase.

That proposal will be up for public comment at an April 21 hearing. A second public hearing will be held in May, with final ballot measure language needing to be approved by June 16.

“We’re not even close to carving anything in stone yet, so we’ll bring this back to you,” said Black.

The pay issue hasn’t been met with controversy yet, as there were no takers for a public comment period on it.