Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Mayor: Joanne Benjamin

Council opts to leave pay increases off the calendar

By Clarence Cromwell

Town Council members at a Feb. 8 workshop briefly discussed putting council salaries on the council agenda for discussion. They decided against it, however, opting to continue working as many as 40 hours per week for only $150 per month.

Along with the Monte Sereno and Saratoga city councils, past Los Gatos councils have set for themselves one of the lowest salaries in Santa Clara County, even taking the town's population into account.

The California Government Code sets salaries for city councils based on their population, and the Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga councils decided not to accept the full $300 compensation allowed council members of the smallest cities, those with less than 35,000 residents.

Mayor Joanne Benjamin put council salaries on the agenda for a Feb. 8 work session, she said. Council members were to digest a survey of other councils' salaries and consider taking more money themselves, rather than continue to pay expenses out of their own pockets. The discussion didn't go far.

Benjamin herself opposed raising the salary in next year's budget, she said, because the town's coffers are already low, and a reasonable increase wouldn't come close to compensating for council members' out-of-pocket expenses, let alone their time.

"You're basically a community volunteer," Benjamin said.

There's also the potential for a backlash from town residents, she added, if residents see the council voting to give itself a raise.

Councilmembers in Los Gatos and Monte Sereno attend two council sessions a month that require several hours of preparation time the weekend before--including visiting the sites of most proposed developments in their own cars. All of them also represent their cities on the governing boards of a number of special districts, for which they attend meetings at least once a month at various Bay Area locations.

"The hours do add up," Benjamin said. "It can range between 20 and 40 hours [for the mayor]."

The town pays $50 a month to Los Gatos councilmembers for mileage, making their monthly checks $200. They are offered medical, dental and life insurance, but some council members don't accept the coverage.

In Monte Sereno, councilmembers rarely fill out expense claims for their mileage, and they don't receive salaries.

"We're a small city," Mayor Jack Lucas said. "It's just been a long-standing tradition that members of this council do it for the love of the city and not for money."

Lucas, whose job takes about 10 hours a week, said he's opposed pay for councilmembers in the past. Monte Sereno Councilmember Dorothea Bamford said talks about salary usually die quickly, and the salary question hasn't been voted on in years.

Hours are long for most council members, but for the mayors, there are additional ceremonial functions as well.

Benjamin said she is frequently invited to attend $100-a-head community fundraising events or to make donations to charities.

"It's not that you wouldn't want to go, but when you're asked to go to every event, it adds up," she said. But she goes anyway.

"As a councilmember, we try to support anything," Benjamin said. "What happens is if you don't go to one of those, people think you don't support it, and they get their feelings hurt."

Mayors are also expected to attend openings of businesses, and like other councilmembers, they frequently meet with constituents and business people who ask for some of their time, but the mayor's time is in greater demand.

Benjamin said it costs her approximately $200 each month above the $150 she is paid to represent the town as its mayor.

Councilmember Randy Attaway estimated that he spends $2,500 per year in the course of his council duties; as mayor during 1996 he spent $3,500. And during 1994, when he went to Brazil to help facilitate the Brazilian World Cup team's stay in Los Gatos, Attaway spent at least $8,000 of his own money to carry out his duties, he estimated.

Councilmembers in most cities allow the city to pay when they attend training seminars, which they usually fit in once a year, elected officials say.

"When you're elected, you're not instantly a whiz at public policy and running meetings," Santa Clara Mayor Judy Nadler said.

Los Gatos councilmembers decided not to attend conferences this year because of budgetary constraints, Benjamin said.

Some councils fare better than the Los Gatos council, some worse.

Most notably, the city councils that take less money than allowed are running minimum-government cities: Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga.

In Saratoga, council members don't have salaries but receive a $250 stipend each month to cover their expenses.

Some councils earn slightly more than the salaries set by state law because a clause allows annual 5 percent raises. Those raises have added $50-$110 to three councils' salaries: Campbell, Cupertino and Milpitas.

Three Santa Clara County city councils earn paychecks that are based strictly on their cities' populations: Morgan Hill, Los Altos and Mountain view.

The cities that pay councilmembers the most around the county are charter cities.

San Jose council members claim the highest pay. Governed by its own charter, rather than state law, San Jose pays its full-time councilmembers $56,000 a year. Mayor Susan Hammer earns $85,000 a year, according to Kevin Pursglove, communications director for the mayor's office. Hammer also works 12-hour days, starting at about 7:30 in the morning, and has a 16-person staff to help handle her duties.

San Jose council members, on the other hand, don't have as much power as smaller councils to raise their own salaries or the mayor's, Pursglove explained. He said a salary-setting commission, created by the city charter, evaluates the mayor's and council's pay every two years and usually recommends a 3-5 percent increase for both; the council can take it or leave it.