2012-03-05 Salary Commission Minutes

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Ms. Lugo noted that at the last meeting, the Commission requested that Mr. Takahashi develop a new pay plan proposal, which the Commission has before it today. In speaking to the proposal, Mr. Takahashi explained the current pay plan, which had been developed in April 2004 whereby a tiered system had been established placing department heads in different tiers. The pay schedule included step movements whereby an executive would move to the next step in the pay scale every two years. The pay plan, however, called for a new appointment to start at the A step of a pay grade, including existing department heads who may have been appointed from a previous administration and were appointed by the new administration. They would have to revert back to step A. At the Salary Commission's request, Mr. Takahashi reviewed the existing pay plan and developed a proposal for a new plan. In the proposed pay plan, the tiers have been eliminated, as well as the salary schedule, with a new salary schedule that has one set salary for department heads, deputies, and elected officials. The Salary Commission would retain the option to review the salaries at any time and make adjustments as necessary. The pay that Mr. Takahashi is recommending is the existing pay for all the positions, as he did not want to recommend any increases due to the economic conditions and the County's budget shortfall. Mr. Takahashi noted that the current step movements for the directors have been frozen. At the request of the Mayor, the previous Salary Commission had taken action to freeze all step movements until further notice. The pay that the department heads are receiving right now is pretty much set, and this is the pay that Mr. Takahashi recommends be continued under the new pay plan, although the Commission does have pending actions for the Prosecuting Attorney, Fire Chief, and Deputy Fire Chief. MOTION: Mr. De Lima moved to implement the pay plan for executives and elected officials, as proposed by Mr. Takahashi, with some amendments. The motion was seconded by Ms. Wong. Discussion: Mr. De Lima proposed an amendment to line 2, which says "effective immediately." Because they will be voting on the new pay schedule, they may also be suggesting some changes as well, so he would like to propose that any increases in salaries be effective December 3, 2012, except where otherwise noted by the Salary Commission. Mr. De Lima proposed another amendment to increase the Corporation Counsel's salary to $113,580 effective December 3, 2012, bringing the Corporation Counsel's salary to the same level as the Prosecuting Attorney. December 3 is when the new Mayor and his appointees take effect.