Oakland’s city council is set to decide whether to give its mayor a significant raise Tuesday.
It’s a hotly debated topic. Some say the mayor deserves a bump, others say it’s a bad look for a city facing a massive budget deficit.
If approved, Mayor Sheng Thao will see her salary jump by about $75,000 a year — for a yearly salary of $277,974.
The city is currently facing a record deficit of $360 million over the next two years. But its charter includes a rule that the mayor should make no less than 70%, and no more than 90% of the average salaries of city managers of six comparable California cities.
“First of all, you need to prove yourself,” said Cynthis Adams, the Oakland NAACP president.
The NAACP is among those organizations who have come out against the bump in pay. Adams said a raise for the mayor isn’t the issue. A raise right now is, “But not at six months, as you don’t have a chief of police, you don’t have a fire chief, crime is up high, I mean, you can’t even go down to Jack London Square without someone breaking into your car.”
The city council has not raised the mayor’s salary in 10 years.
The vote is scheduled for Tuesday.
