City Council Preview for Feb 21

There are two items of interest on the agenda this week: the proposed hotel in Gateway Center and a discussion of Council compensation.

GATEWAY CENTER HOTEL

Developers want to put a 5-story 102 bed hotel in the Gateway Center.

For the past few months, many people have been complaining about parking in the center and the traffic around the center. Even owners of shops in the center complain about the loss of business due to the difficulties getting into the center and finding parking once you are there.

Can a place with so many perceived existing problems accommodate a 102 bed hotel? That's the question the City Council will be asking.

COUNCIL COMPENSATION

Depending on the city you live in, a City Council position is considered part time or full time, and salaries range from $0 to $200,000 per year. The National League of Cities says “Council members typically receive modest compensation for their work, usually because they serve on a part-time basis. The average number of hours spent per week on council-related matters in small, medium and large cities is 20, 25 and 42, respectively.”

In California, the 2,000 people who serve on City Councils receive in aggregate more than $40,000,000 per year (Click here), or, on average, $20,000 per year. That figure doesn’t include what Council members get paid for sitting on other boards, such as Vector Control which pays an additional $1,200 per year.

In 2011 The OC Grand Jury did a survey of city council total compensation in Orange County. At the low end were cities like Villa Park ($0), Laguna Woods ($3,600), and La Palma ($4,575). At the high end were Irvine ($48,000), Anaheim ($46,459), Laguna Hills ($38,712) and Tustin ($37,693). The average was $20,719 and 61% of that came from benefits. Lake Forest was $11,205.

CUTTING THE CAKE

Some Council people get paid more than others since, in some cities, they can elect to receive all sorts of benefits. In 2013, The OC Register reported that the highest paid Council members were –

1. Irvine - $47,674
2. Tustin - $39,964
3. Laguna Hills - $38,527
4. Santa Ana - $32,752
5. Buena Park - $32,080

COUNCIL COMPENSATION IN 2016

In Lake Forest Council members receive $8,448 annually or $704 per month. That figure was raised from $659 per month in 2008. From 1991 to 2006 it was $600 per month. (Click Here).

• In Irvine, salary is $10,560 but benefits vary a lot. Some Council members take more than $10,000 per year in “insurance premiums” and hence get total compensation in excess of $30,000 per year.
• In Mission Viejo the salary is $12,000 and the benefit package brings total compensation to about $20,000 per year.
• In RSM the salary is $5,562 but the benefit package can exceed $10,000 so the total compensation is $23,904.
• In Costa Mesa the salary is $10,852.02 but with benefits the total compensation is in excess of $30,000.
• In Laguna Hills the base salary is $7,484 but the benefits package produces total compensation in excess of $25,000.

PAY FOR PERFORMANCE

In an ideal world, people would get paid for performance. Because we don’t live in an ideal world, people often get paid just for showing up. In the case of City Council, neither of these apply. You can do a poor job, even a harmful job, and you still get paid. You can not show up and still get paid (Click here and here). Unfortunately that’s the way it is.

INCREASE COMPENSATION?

Forgetting about the quality of the performance by some of our Council members, and forgetting about whether they show up at events or not, the question remains, “Should Lake Forest City Council compensation be on a par with other cities?” The average compensation for our neighbors is more than twice the amount we get in Lake Forest.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be February 25 at the Lake 1 Clubhouse from 2 to 4 pm.