In what may earn The Watchdog’s award for Most Awkward Timing Ever, the Mission Viejo City Council will vote Monday on doubling its own salaries.
- Now, each councilmember earns $500 a month.
- The proposal submitted by City Manager Dennis Wilberg would double that to $1,000 a month. (That’s closer to what councilmembers in Newport Beach, Tustin and Buena Park are paid.)
Those numbers, however, don’t reflect everything that councilmembers are paid. They also get:
- Monthly travel expense reimbursements from their cities - mileage, etc. - which can total hundreds of dollars a month (see details below).
- Meeting pay from representing Mission Viejo on other committees and boards, such as the Orange
County Fire Authority, the Vector Control Board, Transportation Corridor Agencies, etc., which can also total hundreds of dollars per month.
Which is not to say that councilmembers don’t work very hard, and perhaps should be paid quadruple what they earn now. It’s just that, well, we’re a few weeks away from an election and, wellllll, has anyone else noticed that we’re fending off something akin to Financial Armageddon?
LONG ROAD TO A RAISE
The agenda report (prepared by City Attorney William P. Curley III and submitted by City Manager 
Wilberg) says the council’s compensation was set when the city incorporated in 1988. It was never intended to be a salary for a full-time legislator; but to give the part-time councilmember ”an amount that recognizes the deferred opportunities and expenses that are incurred in the performance of a councilmember’s duties.”
The city could have raised that compensation 5 percent per year, for each of the past 20 years.
Since it didn’t, Wilberg proposes raising the compensation 100 percent now (5 percent X 20 years
= 100 percent). The total extra funding required would be $17,500 a year.
The item is No. 20 on Monday’s agenda. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 200 Civic Center.
TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENTS
Here are the monthly mileage reimbursements up for approval Monday:
- Trish Kelley: $226.22 (top picture)
- John Paul Ledesma: $181.91 (second picture)
- Frank Ury: $141.32 (third picture)
- Lance MacLean: $109.83 (fourth picture)
- Gail Reavis: $95.23 (fifth picture)
OTHER BOARD PAY
The Watchdog has asked cities to account for what its councilmembers are paid in total; they have, by and large, declined to tally up the payments councilmembers receive from outside agencies like the Fire Authority, transportation agencies and the like. The Watchdog will endeavor to do that in coming months.
More Watchdog:
- Who’s Getting Freebie Playoff Seats?
- AIG subsidiary parties in style in OC, two weeks after bailout
- Is incumbent a carpetbagger? Challenger sics DA on the case
- Management company fears violence from 73-year-old woman
- Kill rate soars at county animal shelter; adoptions decline
- Water district flush with cash, to the tune of $1 billion
- O.C. treasurer sells investment, dodging bullet
You can follow this blog: on 
Good for the City Manager. At least he is stepping up to the plate and giving them the raise that they should have been given over the past 20 years. Most of these people have full time jobs and are spending lots of time away from their families to provide a service to their community. I see nothing wrong with this at all.
whaaaaa? hey “duh” heard of the california budget crisis?
Like it matters what anyone thinks. Greedy politicians approve their own raises 99% of the time, and it’s the one vote they all (mysteriously) seem to show up for. BOYCOTT THE SYSTEM, DO NOT BOTHER VOTING!!!! It’s not like you single votes counts, because they are all crooks anyway.
They should be paid based on their IQ!
That would save the city of Mission Viejo thousands monthly!
BY the way Gail - I counted 17 ILLEGALS yesterday and another 12 today at the corner of Jeronimo and Los Alisos.
Great idea with that ordinance!
To DUH Say!
Not one of the City Council member has a real job.
May be J.P. does as he is been in out of jobs for the pass 8 years. He is now trying to sell Real Estate. Good Luck@!
This is a volunteer job and not one that should be even having a amount paid to do it.
Once again Kelley, MacLean and Ury extracting $$$
from the Tax payers.
They chose this position… many spent their own money to run for this office. They should be doing it for public service, not a paycheck. If it’s too time consuming… to difficult to be away from their families, then resign.
Well, who can be so surprised? I wonder if they’re going to use that money to continue to beautify the south side of Mission Viejo? They forget about us ghetto dwellers over on the north side. They’ve hogged all the Christmas lights, too. Nothing over here anymore, just more traffic (ala Alicia Blvd and noise). We are the step children with red hair.
Their pay increase should be donated to the city so they can finish Crown Valley Parkway. It has only been under contruction for 4 years.
In 1988 the mileage rate was 24 cents a mile.
Today the mileage rate is 58.5 cents a mile.
Increased 144% since 1988.
So they are taking a raise less then the increase in even the mileage rate increase.
I think we need to make this retro-active or do we buy them a six dollar burger and call it even?
Further, there are at least twenty (20) other agenda items and this was the best item of discussion?