Pay raises for public officials are one of those hot-button issues that politicians are afraid to touch.
Long Beach City Manager Edwin Eaton not only touched it Tuesday night, he heated it up by inflating his actual raise.
Long Beach civic activist Sarah Nicholas set Eaton off when she asked him at a City Council hearing on the proposed budget if he was getting a pay raise. “City manager is going from $89,000 to $150,000,” Eaton replied.
“I’m sorry. What?” Nicholas said.
“Eight-nine thousand dollars to $150,000,” Eaton said again.
“Eighty-nine to a hundred and fifty? I don’t understand,” Nicholas said.
“It’s quite clear — $89,000 to $150,000,” Eaton said once again. But there was more to it...
Bill Murphy
“Okay. What will your salary be in the budget?” Nicholas said.
“I’ll say it again — $150,000,” Eaton said.
“I’m sorry. I thought you were talking about a range,” Nicholas said, dropping the topic.
But after the meeting Eaton explained that when he returned last year as city manager after a few years of premature retirement he allowed part of his $139,000 annual salary to be used for staff raises, lowering his actual salary to $89,000.
He also gave up a $6,347 raise his predecessor, John Laffey, has proposed.
So, actually, he’s getting a raise of about $5,000 in the fiscal year beginning July 1st.