Mayor: City Council is Fairly Compensated

San Ramon pays its five City Council members $163,190 a year —more than double the average for cities in Contra Costa County.

And Mayor H. Abram Wilson says that's reasonable for the quality and amount of work they put in.

Wilson says as much in a formal response to released in May that tells San Ramon to consider lowering pension, health-care and take-home pay for its elected officials.

The scope of the grand jury's study was too narrow and out of context, Wilson writes. It didn't take into consideration things that set San Ramon apart from other cities in the county, he added. Things like the city's stellar credit rating, or the fact that it is headquarters to some of the biggest corporations in the world or that it is home to 57 parks, two aquatic centers, community centers, theaters and libraries.

Also, Wilson adds, the grand jury used an old population figure —59,002 instead of the 73,109 recorded by the state Department of Finance.

"These operational differences mean that there are significant differences in the complexity of serving as an elected official," Wilson writes. "Implying that all elected officials should be compensated in the same fashion ignores those differences."

City Council members make about $2,700 a month in pension, health-care, meeting fees, car allowance and mileage reimbursements, cell phone and Internet stipends, and travel and conference costs.

They vote on their own compensation, by the way.

Wilson says the report should have lauded the 19 cities it surveyed for paying its leaders fairly, unlike the City of Bell, a Southern California town that made national news last year when the LA Times exposed the exorbitant salaries of its elected leaders.

The mayor's letter includes a response to each of the report's five recommendations.

The first of those recommendations is that the city should conduct a yearly review of City Council compensation to see if changes should be made.

Wilson said that's unnecessary. San Ramon isn't breaking any rules. And it's already city policy to invite public comment when it does change City Council compensation. So an annual review would be redundant, he writes.

The second recommendation is that the city should consider lowering City Council compensation, making it closer to the county average.

That's unreasonable, Wilson says. The suggestion ignores population differences among cities. It also shirks the statistical reality that unless all salaries are the same, there always will be cities above or below the average, he notes.

Recommendation No. 3: San Ramon should consider whether providing health care for City Council members is appropriate.

Wilson's response: Nope. There's nothing wrong with giving city leaders medical insurance. In fact, he says, there's a provision for it in the California Government Code.

Wilson's response is on the consent calendar of this week's City Council meeting. You can read a copy of it here — just click on the PDF attached to this article.

The City Council meeting takes place 7 p.m. Tuesday at 2222 Camino Ramon. Read the entire agenda here: www.sanramon.ca.gov.