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Stockton council approves pay and benefit increase for city manager over one dissent
Summary
The Stockton City Council approved an amendment to City Manager Harry Black's employment agreement, raising base pay and increasing the city's 401(a) contribution after public testimony both supporting and criticizing the change; the measure passed 6-1 with Council Member Michelle Padilla dissenting.
The Stockton City Council on Aug. 20 approved amendments to City Manager Harry Black's employment agreement, increasing his base annual salary and the city's retirement contribution after more than an hour of public comment and a council-level debate about process and priorities.
The motion, described aloud before the vote, amended the employment agreement to set the manager's annual salary at roughly $348,000-$348,068 and raised the city's contribution to Mr. Black's 401(a) retirement plan from 12.5% to 17% of base salary. Council voted 6-1 to approve the change; Council Member Michelle Padilla voted no.
Supporters who spoke during public comment praised Mr. Black's pandemic-era leadership and his work on nonprofit partnerships, workforce programs and downtown investments. Jose Rodriguez, president and CEO of El Concilio, said Mr. Black had guided pandemic response and local partnerships and encouraged council members to extend his contract. Several nonprofit and community leaders asked the council to keep continuity in city management.
Opponents and at least one council member objected to the pay increase's magnitude given local economic pressures. Council Member Michelle Padilla said she could not back the raise and asked council to weigh resident hardships. —I cannot support a 12% salary increase at this time,— Padilla said, citing recent cost-of-living adjustments and a need to be mindful of fiscal impacts on Stockton residents.
Mayor Kevin Lincoln and other council members defended the process and emphasized Mr. Black's record, while Padilla and others sought greater transparency about comparative compensation surveys and the timing of the adjustment.
City Manager Black later thanked the council during his update and said the past four-plus years had been highly productive, crediting staff and partnership work.
The amendment alters compensation and benefits under the existing agreement; the council did not change any other contract terms at the Aug. 20 meeting. Any further administrative steps to implement the pay change will follow standard personnel and payroll procedures.
