The Seal Beach City Council gave City Manager Jill Ingram a raise Monday, Oct. 23, increasing her base pay from $222,806 to $230,604. The raise was one of six items on the Consent Calendar. Items on the Consent Calendar are voted on collectively without discussion by council members.
The raise is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2017. According to the staff report, this was a 3.5 percent pay raise. According to resident Robert Goldberg, a budget watcher and Ingram critic, this was a 4.6 percent increase in her compensation. Goldberg did not speak at the council meeting, but did submit a Letter to the Editor. In that letter, he said Ingram’s raise was equivalent to increases given to other employees in city management.
During the public comment segment of Monday’s council meeting, one woman said a 3.5 percent raise was very small.
Resident Joyce Parque, another critic of Ingram, said the city should fix and clean up Main Street before giving Ingram a raise.
The staff report submitted by City Attorney Craig Steele said the current city budget included a 2.7 percent increase for all city employees, with $6,000 budgeted for the city manager.
“The remainder of the proposed increases related to the changes in the city manager’s contract will be paid from budgetary savings,” the report said.
In addition to the pay raise, Ingram’s contract was changed to:
• Increase the city’s contribution to Ingram’s deferred compensation by $3,500 a year effective July 1.
• Provides for reimbursement of an annual medical examination up to a maximum of $850.
• Allow Ingram to put 25 percent of her unused sick pay into a retiree savings account if she is terminated, in addition to allowing Ingram to cash out 25 percent of her unused sick leave.
