CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — A controversial proposal to rewrite parts of Chula Vista's city charter, or local constitution, is back up for review this week, including a plan to give council members and the mayor a significant pay raise and an extra term in office.
The proposal was introduced at last week's city council meeting on Tuesday.
Nearly a week later, Chula Vista's Board of Ethics Committee held a special meeting Monday night to review more than a dozen proposals for amending the city's charter. Among them is one amendment to give council members and the mayor a significant pay raise and an extra term in office.
Monday night's Board of Ethics meeting is critical before the measure heads back to city council Tuesday night, where members could vote to put it on the November ballot.
At last week's meeting, Council Member Cesar Fernandez was the only person to speak in support of the pay raise.
"I believe a modest, maybe not necessarily this increase here that's written, but a thoughtful increase could make it possible for someone in my situation to reduce their hours at their primary job and devote more time to serving constituents," Fernandez said. "The city is approaching 300,000 residents. This feels like a full-time job, but me being a teacher, I am locked down to that job from 8:30 to 4, and cannot do city business. We serve on regional boards, at community meetings, and the agendas are huge."
At Tuesday's council meeting, Fernandez also expressed support for the extra term to ensure multi-year projects are brought to completion.
"I can't count on the next person to advocate for that same project," Fernandez said.
Under the current city charter, council members earn a little more than $64,000 a year.
The proposed charter amendment stems from a referral made during the June 16th City Council meeting. It would make several changes to the city's charter, including raising salaries for the mayor and council members and extending term limits from two terms to three.
Under the current charter, council members earn 40% of the mayor's salary, while the mayor's salary is tied to 66% of the pay for a California Superior Court judge.
The proposal would increase council members' salaries to 45% of a Superior Court judge's salary. For the mayor, the draft language would remove that fixed formula altogether. Instead, a newly created Salary Setting Commission would determine the mayor's compensation. That commission would also be established through the charter amendment.
Mayor John McCann spoke out at last week's meeting and said a part-time position doesn't deserve a 59% pay increase: "You're moving the council salaries from basically $64,000 to $110,000. You're giving council members a six-figure salary."
McCann also opposed even the idea of a raise for himself.
"Right now, we're dealing with an affordability crisis," McCann said. "For the City Council to try to get a $45,000 pay increase is unacceptable."
McCann said he also opposed the new term limit proposal.
"I believe that the voters have already decided the true terms and we should respect the voters who've already voted for it," McCann said.
Community member Russ Hall raised concerns about the pace of the process, saying important steps were being skipped.
"This kind of a proposal needs to be properly vetted, and the city has methods for that, going through the ethics commission, going through the charter review commission. Somehow that got bypassed; that's wrong," Hall said.
At last Tuesday's meeting, McCann confirmed that the proposed amendments had not been reviewed yet by the Charter Review Commission, nor the City's Board of Ethics.
Following Monday's scheduled Board of Ethics meeting, ABC 10News contacted the City Attorney's office to see if a special meeting was planned to review the proposed amendments. The Charter Review Commission typically meets quarterly.
City Attorney Marco Verdugo responded and said, "As of the time of this e-mail, the Charter Review Commission has not scheduled a meeting to discuss the proposed charter amendment measure."
ABC 10News reached out to all four council members for comment. Council Member Michael Inzunza responded and said he adamantly opposes any pay raises.
