A bill designed to increase the diversity of city council members in California by increasing salaries cleared the state’s Legislature Monday and is headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
If Newsom signs it, Senate Bill 329 by state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, would allow city councils to raise their maximum pay to keep pace with inflation.
Any increases would require a simple majority vote by a council and would be calculated using the California Consumer Price Index.
“No one runs for city council to get rich. But the low levels of pay make it much harder to balance careers and personal obligations with the calling to serve their community,” Dodd said.
“It’s especially hard for working people and those from diverse or disadvantaged backgrounds,” he said in a news release Tuesday. “By allowing councils to adjust their maximum pay to reflect inflation, my bill will remove barriers to achieving more equitable representation in local government.”
Currently, city council members’ salaries are capped based on the population size of their cities.
So most council members have other jobs, the average hours worked is 10 to 20 hours per week for city business at an average pay of $ 41,743 not a bad gig, they need more money? How does that help diversity?
This is BS. First – the amount provided to city councils is not intended to be a “salary.” It is intended to be a stipend to complement day jobs. Elected officials who don’t have regular jobs, part time or full time, lose touch with issues facing the community and best solutions. Council positions should not be the sole means of making a living. SF Board of Supervisors (and SF is a city and county) make almost twice as much as they did in 2000, and SF is in real trouble now. All it does is allow the members not to have regular jobs which increases their time to introduce useless legislation in an effort to gain attention for their attempts to climb the political ladder of positions. Second – the barrier to lower income people becoming elected representatives is the cost of campaigning for office, not the amount of money provided after election. Third – as long as the cities are increasing sales tax that takes ever more money from those who can least afford it, like Concord’s Measure Q/M, councils should not be increasing their salary.
What the hell does this have to do with diversity of council members?
I’m surprised 😯 no Pride adjustment is offered to attract those people.
What a crock of hogwash…mine as well stick a clause in every city council amendments 1 of each represented race or “special” grouped individual must be on it.
JURYISOUT,
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The Concord City Council has made the argument for years that they have to increase their pay in order to attract quality candidates and a diversity of candidates to run for Concord City Council because “quality people” wouldn’t run for the position with such low financial compensation. By saying that, they admitted they themselves aren’t “quality people.” This is why the Concord City Council has been giving themselves a pay increase every two years. They all know what the compensation was when they sought out the position, if they didn’t like the pay they shouldn’t have sought out the position.
Does this mean council persons will no longer have their last link to reality, a full time job outside of city government?
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“… bill would increase the maximum amount of salary, based upon the population of the city, that may be approved by an ordinance passed by the city council…”
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Example, “In cities over 150,000 up to and including 250,000 in population, up to and including … two thousand five hundred fifty dollars ($2,550) per month.” …
https://tinyurl.com/yn2f76x4
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City councils are now greatly incentivized to actively cater to developers and builders.
Can almost see the tiny wheels turning as they conjure ways to build high density housing on every vacant lot.
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With all that free time on their hands Imagine how many additional hair brained woke ideas they’ll be able to come up. You though CA couldn’t get any more screwed up, fasten your seat belt, “it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”
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Imagine the damage woke majority on antioch . . . . . . . . . .
It just keeps rolling downhill.
To provide for increased salary for city councils (for the sake of diversity? Diversity being more green into the pockets), perhaps take those monies from the legislators who have just passed the bill (in a couple ways, passed the bill by voting and passed the bill by using other peoples money to cover the costs). How foot loose and fancy free with money, so easy when it is not theirs.
You forgot to mention that 3 of our council members are entitled to pensions and lifetime medical after retirement. They’ve since changed that “law” so the newer members don’t get that benefit.
This is the State’s way of bribing city council members to follow the dictates of the governor without question.
These corrupt bozos can work full-time, and then get $40K+ for shaking hands and taking money under the table.
They’ll soon be permanent city council members, working full time for the city, who follow orders and get rich by taxing the people into poverty.
I’ve never met anyone in government and/or politics who wasn’t in it for the money.
To the devil with the people, they say, we are better than people and we need more money.
Bingo!
And Gavin will rubber stamp it so they’ll automatically support his current and future Soros dictated communist ideas.
It’s part time volunteer work. It’s not meant to be a full-time career. How’s this going to bring in more diversity? Maybe homeless should be on City councils?
Hey if you all want to bev councilman, get a dui. Your in!
God I wish I could vote on my own raise. Shouldn’t the voters vote on there raises.
get paid more? they can not even handle the homelessness and drugs in our city. way to earn that money. what a joke!!
… just voting themselves a raise… of course Newscum will sign it… utimatley it gives him license to give himself a raise too
Meaning of diversity in this conversation = having some hundred dollar bills along with the fifties and twenties. They put ‘diversity’ in the conversation knowing that if someone votes against it they will be labeled a racist.
Politicians, one of the few jobs you can do, fail at and still get raises because you feel like you deserve more.
“The best minds are not in government. If any were,
business would steal them away.”
— Ronald Reagan
Who have Disney, Budweiser, and Target been stealing from, Jeffrey Epstein?
Please explain to me how giving themselves a raise helps with diversity? Does this mean Republicans & Independents will be elected, since being a R or I in this state is as rare as hen’s teeth. Will Caucasian, conservatives be elected automatically because they’re also rare? How about people who have common sense?
See? Trickle-Down Economics works.