Compensation Commission Meeting: Annual Salary Review and Vice Chair Selection – May 12, 2025
Compensation Commission Meeting – May 12, 2025
The Sacramento Compensation Commission met on Monday, May 12, 2025, at 10:02 AM in City Hall, 915 I Street. All five commissioners were present (Steven Cohn, David Kawada, Elisabeth Pray, Theresa Riviera, Chair Arthur Scotland). The meeting was called to order, included a land acknowledgment and Pledge of Allegiance, and welcomed new commissioners Steven Cohn and Theresa Riviera. The commission approved meeting minutes, conducted the annual review of compensation for the mayor, councilmembers, and public boards/commissions, selected a vice chair, and heard public comments. The meeting adjourned at 11:55 AM.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1 – Approval of Minutes (File ID: 2025-00259): Commissioner Kawada moved, Commissioner Pray seconded. The motion passed 4–0–1 (Commissioner Cohn initially abstained but voted yes after discussion). Approved minutes from the March 27, 2024 regular meeting and June 5, 2024 special meeting, with corrections noted by Commissioner Kawada (motion originator and seconder for prior items, misspelling of his name).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Online comments on Item 2: Three written public comments were received. Two opposed salary increases for the mayor and councilmembers, citing the city’s $44 million budget deficit and potential layoffs. One comment was unrelated to the agenda item (not read).
- Public comment on matters not on the agenda: Mr. Kai On spoke about a personal grievance involving a police report and his father’s death, requesting the commission’s assistance. The chair clarified the commission’s limited jurisdiction over compensation only.
Discussion Items
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Item 2 – Annual Review of Compensation (File ID: 2025-00776):
- Chair Scotland provided a detailed legal framework from City Charter Article 3, Section 29 (adopted by voters in 2002), explaining that compensation must be “reasonable and consistent with other cities similar in size and structure.” He referenced the 2019 finding that councilmember duties are equivalent to full-time work, and described prior commission deliberations.
- Human Resources Manager Ebony Heaven presented the salary survey data. She noted that the mayor’s salary had been frozen at $164,208 annually since 2003 and councilmembers at $102,793 annually, with no increases for two years. She offered options: a 2% increase (similar to some city employees) or increases based on market medians (15.9% for mayor, 9% for council). She also explained that healthcare premium language would be updated to match non-sworn employees.
- Commissioners discussed comparability: They considered excluding San Francisco (cost-of-living outlier) and Long Beach (very low council salary). Chair Scotland proposed matching the mayor’s salary to Long Beach’s mayor ($15,372/month = $184,464/year) and councilmembers’ salary to Fresno’s council ($9,277/month = $111,324/year). Commissioner Cohn proposed a 4% increase instead, citing the budget deficit and potential impacts on labor negotiations. Commissioner Pray initially supported 4% but withdrew after seeing it would leave Sacramento’s mayor salary the lowest among comparable cities. Commissioner Kawada supported Chair Scotland’s proposal to avoid falling further behind. Commissioner Riviera agreed with the chair. After debate, the commission voted unanimously (5–0) to adopt the monthly salary increases: mayor to $15,372 ($184,464 annually), councilmembers to $9,277 ($111,324 annually), effective June 14, 2025 (first paycheck July 8, 2025). The commission then unanimously adopted the resolutions for mayor/council compensation (including updated healthcare language and a one-year extension of retiree health contributions through 2026) and for boards/commissions compensation (no changes).
- Commissioners directed staff to include in next year’s survey: total city budget for each comparable agency, cost-of-living indices, and consideration of whether to revise the list of comparable cities.
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Item 3 – Selection of Vice Chair (File ID: 2025-00760): Commissioner Pray nominated Commissioner David Kawada. Commissioner Cohn seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Kawada will serve as Vice Chair for calendar year 2025, starting at the next regular meeting.
Key Outcomes
- Minutes approved with corrections (4–0–1, with Cohn voting yes after initial abstention).
- Mayor’s salary increased to $184,464 annually (a 12.34% increase from $164,208), effective June 14, 2025.
- Councilmembers’ salary increased to $111,324 annually (an 8.3% increase from $102,793), effective June 14, 2025.
- Resolutions adopted (5–0): one establishing mayor and council compensation and benefits (with updated healthcare language and retiree health extension), and one establishing compensation for members of public boards and commissions (no changes).
- Commissioner David Kawada elected Vice Chair for calendar year 2025 (5–0).
- Directive to staff: For future annual reviews, provide total budget data for each comparable city, cost-of-living adjustments, and options for revising the list of comparable cities.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome to this meeting of the City of Sacramento's Compensation Commission, which is an independent commission created by Article 3, Section 29 of the City of Sacramento Charter. It was approved by the voters in 2020 2002 to establish the compensation for the mayor, other members of the city council, and public members of board city boards and commissions. The meeting is called to order. Thank you, Chair. Commissioners, please unmute your microphones. Commissioner Pray. Here. Commissioner Riviera. Here. Commissioner Kawada. Here. Commissioner Cohn. Here. And Chair Scotland. Present. Thank you. We have quorum. Thank you. Would you uh please uh present the land acknowledgement and then after that lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? Thank you. Uh please rise if you are able for the opening acknowledgement in honor of Sacramento's indigenous people and tribal lands. To the original people of this land, the Nissanon people, the Southern Maidu, Valley and Plains Miwok, Patwin Winton peoples, and the people of the Wilton Rancheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe. May we acknowledge and honor the native people who come came before us and still walk beside us today on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather together today in the active practice of acknowledgement appreciation and appreciation for Sacramento's Indigenous Peoples History Contributions and Lives. Thank you. Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Salute and pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much, Jacob. And before we continue, I'd like to remind members of the public in chambers that if you would like to speak on an agenda item, please turn in a speaker slip when the item begins. Speaker slips can be found in the back of chambers as well as the clerk's desk up front. We'll now proceed with today's agenda. All right. Well, let's begin by welcoming the two commission members that are with us today in alphabetical order as Stephen Cohen and Teresa Rivera. Would you uh please introduce yourselves and uh tell the public who is here present and uh watching on streaming uh that a little bit about you, state your name and and give some background. Why don't we start in alphabetical order? We'll start with you. Uh well, good morning, everyone. Um some of you may remember I was uh elected member of the city council for 20 years from uh 1994 to 2014, and I also served as uh in-house counsel at SMUD for 20 years. Uh since retiring, uh you know, I managed to keep busy, so I just uh recently stepped down from the Thomas Basin Conservancy Board and I'm involved with a few nonprofits, most notably the uh advocacy group for for transit and smart growth. So pleasure to be here. Pleasure to have you, thank you. Teresa Hi, my name is Teresa Riviera, not Rivera, and I've been a I was a member of the Measure U, and I'm a very active community person in the community. So very pleased to be here. I look forward to the work that we're gonna be accomplished today. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you for correcting me on the pronunciation. That won't that won't happen again. All right.
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