Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the City Salaries topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bakersfield council votes to keep council pay unchanged
Summary
After a presentation on options to amend the city charter, the Bakersfield City Council voted to leave council salaries as written in the charter; the motion passed 6–1 with Vice Mayor Kaur voting no.
The Bakersfield City Council voted to leave the city charter's council salary language unchanged after a presentation by City Attorney Ginny Gennaro on options for a charter amendment and related costs.
Gennaro, the city attorney, told the council that “the city of Bakersfield is a charter city as compared to a general law city,” and walked members through Section 18 of the city charter, historical attempts to change council pay and a state statute that could set council pay by ordinance. She said Government Code 36516 allows cities above certain population thresholds to set council pay by ordinance up to $3,200 per month.
The presentation outlined four options: take no action (no fiscal impact); propose a new charter salary (fiscal impact plus election costs); delete the charter language to allow a future council ordinance (election cost now, savings until an ordinance is enacted); or amend the charter to adopt state-law-based pay (example shown: $3,200 per month effective Jan. 1, 2027). Gennaro gave the council an election-cost estimate of about $475,000 to $505,000 to place a single charter amendment on a consolidated county election.
Council member Bashar Tosh moved to adopt option 1 — leave the charter language as is. The motion carried 6–1, with Vice Mayor Kaur recorded as voting no and all other members recorded as voting yes. The clerk announced the motion was approved with “Council member Kaur voting no.”
The council attorney said that if the council chose to pursue a charter amendment, staff would need multiple return appearances to finalize precise ballot language and to coordinate with the county on consolidation and printing. Gennaro noted the practical effect of the state statute: a city that placed the change on the charter and then enacted an ordinance consistent with Government Code 36516 could set monthly council pay at up to $3,200 and thereafter adjust it according to that statute.
No additional public speakers signed up on the item at the time of the vote. The council then recessed into closed session for a separate labor-negotiations item.
