Encinitas approves 20 percent raise for city manager

North County Times – Escondido,CA,USA
ENCINITAS — The City Council on Wednesday approved a 20 percent pay
raise for City Manager Phil Cotton, despite objections from some community
and council …

ENCINITAS — The City Council on Wednesday approved a 20 percent pay raise for City Manager Phil Cotton, despite objections from some community and council members.

The vote was 3-2, with Councilwomen Maggie Houlihan and Teresa Barth objecting.

Also Wednesday, the council unanimously approved a $2 million construction contract to improve Leucadia Boulevard.

Debate over Cotton’s $33,723 raise — from $165,000 to $198,723 — focused more on a council subcommittee’s process than on Cotton’s job performance.

Houlihan and Barth praised Cotton but complained that the subcommittee of Mayor James Bond and Deputy Mayor Jerome Stocks presented inadequate information to justify such a hefty raise.

Stocks defended the amount, saying his recommendation complied with a council policy that sets employee salaries at the midrange of those among similarly sized cities.

Houlihan said she received no comparative analysis until Monday, and that the full City Council never had agreed upon a pay range within which the subcommittee would negotiate.

Barth noted that the analysis itself was flawed because it compared Encinitas to cities such as Carlsbad and Escondido, which are twice as big.

Beyond that, she said, the 20 percent raise would be difficult to explain to other employees.

“I don’t want to be put in that position to explain to the rank and file why they should only get 3 percent,” Barth said.

Some public speakers noted that Cotton was only six months into his job as city manager and that he came to the position with no city manager experience.

“Since Mr. Cotton has no prior experience, isn’t $165,000 sufficient?” asked resident Hector Lopez.

Stocks again came to Cotton’s defense, citing his nine years of service to Encinitas as director of the Parks and Recreation and later the Public Works departments.

He praised Cotton’s handling of the 2007-08 budget, scheduled for approval later this month, which introduces new programs and builds cash reserves to an all-time high.

Bond noted that Cotton had given the city a 20 percent savings in salary during his first six months as city manager because he had accepted less than midrange pay.

In other business Wednesday, the council awarded a $2 million construction contract to 3D Enterprises to improve Leucadia Boulevard between Vulcan and Hermes avenues. The project includes roundabouts at Hermes and Hymettus avenues.

Landscaped medians and meandering walkways would provide safe havens for pedestrians who today must cross a boulevard that is up to 50 feet wide.

In addition to the Hermes and Hymettus roundabouts, the first phase of the Leucadia job would include curbs, gutters, sidewalks, streetlights and bike lanes on both sides of the boulevard from Vulcan to Hermes; the construction of left-turn lanes on northbound and southbound Vulcan Avenue; and an asphalt pathway on the north side of Leucadia Boulevard from Hermes to Interstate 5.

The pathway would be replaced with concrete sidewalks during a second phase of construction.

The second phase, which is not yet budgeted, would add a third roundabout at Hygeia, where today there is a four-way stop sign. It also would add sidewalks to both sides of the boulevard all the way to the freeway and would include landscaping on the sides and on a median for the busy road.

Blair Knoll, a city engineer, told the council he expects the six-month job to begin in June.