The Canyon Lake City Council approved a package of personnel and administrative items during its meeting, including a contested revision to City Manager Aaron Brown’s deferred-compensation match and measures to fund facilities, hire staff and establish the city’s police staffing plan.

The council voted 4-1 to amend Brown’s employment agreement to convert the city’s $25,000 matching deferred-compensation contribution into a guaranteed lump-sum payment to be made in January. Council member Steber urged a different structure—proposing prorated or periodic payments to reduce taxpayer risk if the manager left midyear—saying the current amendment “pays the full amount at the beginning of the year” and vests immediately. Brown said the change was administrative and that the cap and total liability did not change, and he denied seeking an early payout to benefit personally. The motion passed with Council member Steaver/Steber recorded as the sole ‘no’ vote.

Council also moved forward on staffing and budget items tied to public safety and operations. Administrative Services staff presented the city’s annual Assembly Bill 2561 report on recruitment and vacancies and proposed organizational changes that include reclassifications, creation of an accounting specialist and the addition of 12 police positions; the council voted to receive the report and adopt salary schedules to begin building the police department.

Separately, the city manager requested and the council approved allocation of $160,000 in settlement proceeds to establish a facility-maintenance capital improvement account. City Manager Aaron Brown listed proposed uses including replenishing emergency deferred-maintenance funds, HVAC repairs, an employee assistance program, migration of city IT to a ‘gov cloud,’ firewall and network hardware, and a memorial veterans wall.

On fees and regional representation, council members kept EMS fees at status quo and set a public hearing for the fiscal proposal, and they reappointed local representatives as voting delegates to the Southern California Association of Governments.

The council approved remaining consent-calendar items and CDBG-related actions; several items were pulled for brief discussion before passage. The meeting closed with schedule changes for February and April and an adjournment in memory of Warren Kelsey.

Votes at a glance
- Item 6 (First amendment to city manager employment agreement, deferred-comp match): Motion by Council member Terry; second by Mayor Pro Tem Castillo. Vote: 4–1 (Ayes: Mayor Pro Tem Castillo, Council member Terry, Council member Welty, Mayor Smith; No: Council member Steaver/Steber). Outcome: Approved.
- Item 5 (FY26-27 CDBG approval): Motion passed (unanimous as part of consent calendar after pull and discussion). Outcome: Approved.
- Item 7 (AB 2561 staffing report and salary schedules, police staffing): Motion to receive/file and adopt salary schedule; vote: unanimous. Outcome: Approved.
- Item 8 (Establish facility maintenance CIP and allocate $160,000): Motion passed unanimously. Outcome: Approved.
- Item 9 (SCAG delegate designation): Motion passed unanimously (maintained prior delegate/alternate). Outcome: Approved.
- Item 10 (EMS fee schedule): Council set public hearing and kept fees at status quo; unanimous. Outcome: Set public hearing/Status quo.

Next steps
Council directed staff to implement the approved job classifications and begin recruitment for newly authorized positions, incorporate staffing costs into the FY26-27 budget, and proceed with the facility CIP expenditures and administrative updates outlined by the city manager.