Oakland City Council to consider a $75,000 pay raise for Mayor Sheng Thao but some don't agree with the salary increase.Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao has requested the City Council set her salary raise at the lowest possible amount.In a statement on Tuesday, she said, "As a leader I know this is in the best interest of the City's fiscal health, and it is also the right thing to do."
Oakland's City Council is expected to decide whether the Mayor should get a $75,000 raise, which would put her salary at about $278,000 a year. That amount is the most allowed under the city's charter.That lowest possible salary increase would be about $13,000. Mayor Thao also says that if the city council approves a salary larger than the legal limit, she will reject it and "refund any amount that exceeds the Charter required minimum to the city to deliver services to our neighborhoods."
The City Charter says that the mayor's salary will be between 70% and 90% of the average salaries of City Managers' of California cities. Right now, Oakland's mayor is the fourth highest-paid mayor in the state, right after San Francisco, L.A., and San Diego.The issue goes before Oakland City Council Tuesday afternoon for discussion. And the council will vote on the ordinance.