51,438 / 61.6% Yes votes ...... 32,032 / 38.4% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

If approved, Measure S would amend Sections 29 and 44 of the Charter of the City of Sacramento.

Under the current Charter, theMayor is not required to serve full time.Measure S, if approved, would require the Mayor to serve full time.

Under the current Charter, theMayor and Council members are paid a salary of $20.00 for each Council meeting attended, up to a maximum of $100.00 per month. The Mayor is also entitled under the Charter to an annual allowance of $1,800.00 for "entertainment and sundry expenses."

In addition to the amounts provided under the Charter, the City provides the Mayor and Council members with certain health and welfare benefits and monthly automobile and technology allowances; provides the Council members, but not the Mayor, with a monthly general expense allowance; and provides the Mayor with a monthly secretarial allowance.

Members of the Council are appointed to represent the City on the governing boards of other legal entities, and those appointed receive payments from these legal entities for attending their board meetings.

The current Charter provides that the Council is responsible for establishing the compensation or reimbursement of expenses of members of City boards and commissions.

If approved, Measure S would amend theCharter to establish aCompensation Commission responsible for setting the compensation for the Mayor, Council members and public members of City boards and commissions.Measure S would require the Commission to establish compensation for theMayor and members of the Council within 180 days of its passage, and to set the compensation at a level consistent with other cities of similar size and structure.

Operation of Measure S

Measure S would:

• Require the Mayor to serve full-time. Specifically, Measure S would require that "[t]he Mayor shall serve full-time" and "shall devote his or her full time and attention to the duties of the office."
• Establish a Compensation Commission to set the compensation for the Mayor, Council members and public members of City boards and commissions. The Commission would consist of five members serving staggered four year terms, and would have a retired judicial officer serving as chair. The members of the Commission, required to be residents of the City, would be appointed by the Mayor, subject to concurrence by a majority of the City Council.
• Require the Compensation Commission to establish compensation for the Mayor and Council members within 180 days of the passage of Measure S.
• Require the Compensation Commission to set the compensation at a level "reasonable and consistent with other cities similar in size and structure."

The Sacramento Bee

Measure S's goal: Raise mayor's pay

Sunday, October 6, 2002

"When Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo went to Omaha last month to talk to Union Pacific Railroad officials about the deplorable condition of their train station here, she gave up two days of vacation at her regular job with the State Department of Parks and Recreation.

"A week or so earlier, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, she took three days off work to meet with law enforcement officials and county representatives to review the local disaster plans.

"When Fargo runs out of vacation time - which happens frequently - to fulfill her duties as mayor, she gives up a portion of her state salary. She's also pretty much given up on career advancement.

"Fargo is not complaining. She knew what she was getting into when she ran for the job. Being mayor is a "a total immersion experience," Fargo says. "It should be." She's right about that. And because the job is full time and more, it deserves to come with full compensation.

"When Fargo's salary as mayor is added to the compensation from the other regional and city boards and commissions she sits, the mayor probably brings home about $11,000 a year in stipends. She picks up another $28,000 in expense reimbursements.

"This city has gotten valuable service from itsmayors on the cheap for far toomany years - whether the mayor was Fargo, Jimmy Yee, Joe Serna Jr. or Anne Rudin. It's long past time to make the mayor of Sacramento a full-time job and pay the mayor what the job is worth."

We couldn't agree more. Please join community, business, neighborhood leaders in voting "Yes for a Full-Time Mayor!"

/s Robert T. Matsui, Congressman

/s Deborah Ortiz, State Senator

/s Jimmie R. Yee, City Councilman

/s Grantland Johnson, Former County Supervisor

/s Anne Rudin

This plan allows the Councilmembers to pick their friends to set their salaries - with no limits on what they can be paid and no outside oversight allowed.

Let's look at the facts:

Since 1960: The Council and Mayor's budgets grew 8003% ($21,460 to $1,739,000) while the City's population only grew 112% (191,669 to 407,018). Since 1980: the Council and Mayor staffs grew 430% (5 employees to 26.5 employees); their combined budgets grew 785% ($196,491 to $1,739,000); the City's population only grew 48% (275,741 to 407,018). And they want more! To review: Expenses grew 8003% (not a typo) while the population served grew 112%! That's outrageous. Vote No To Prevent Even Higher Salaries and Costs! At an estimated cost of a MillionDollars a year (that's $10 million over 10 years) will the taxpayers get anything they aren't already getting for their money? No!

This is a greedy, selfish grab of taxpayer money by the Council. We all know times are tough and government revenues are down. This measure could mean that we lay off some police & fire officers to pay the estimated million dollars a year it costs.

Nothing in the initiative would prevent salaries of $250,000 for each Councilmember.

Imagine your least favorite Council member making $250,000 a year under this heavy handed scheme. They will never go away - in part because no one else would ever pay them such a high salary. Do we really want our council and mayor to be paid professional bureaucrats, there forever and all powerful?

No! Let's stick with our proven system of citizen representatives. It's working!

It's simple this time, Vote No On Measure S.

/s Mark Whisler, President, Sacramento City Taxpayers' Rights League