San Diego

The San Diego City Council gave final approval Monday to a two-step 29% pay raise for itself and a 20% increase for the mayor.

The increase means council members will be paid $40,000 a year starting today, with an automatic raise to $45,000 next July. The council had been paid $35,000.

Council members turned down a request by Councilwoman Judy McCarty to consider a smaller two-step raise--to $37,500 and $40,000. The larger raise was approved by a 6-2 vote, with McCarty and Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer voting no.

The pay raises were recommended by the city’s salary setting commission, which is appointed by the city’s civil service board. Although council members can vote themselves a smaller raise, they are restrained by law from approving raises any larger than recommended.

McCarty complained that the council’s preliminary approval of the 29% raise, done quickly two weeks ago without much comment, stirred a mood of “council-bashing” in the public.

“They think we snuck around in the middle of the night and gave ourselves this outrageous raise,” she said.

On McCarty’s recommendation, the council unanimously voted to ask the salary setting commission to see if another way to compute council pay increases would be more publicly palatable.