Pasadena Panel Scales Back Council Compensation Plan, But Endorses Major Increase

On Tuesday, Pasadena’s Committee on City Councilmembers’ Compensation endorsed a broad overhaul of pay and perks for the city’s part-time lawmakers, recommending a package that city staff said would lift the total annual cost of council compensation to about $836,000, up from roughly $523,000 today. The panel pared back an earlier, more expensive proposal after councilmembers questioned the timing and optics of large, simultaneous increases amid a tighter budget outlook.

The recommendations now move to the City Council, which can approve, modify, or reject them.

Under the plan, each councilmember’s base stipend would rise to $3,000 a month, from about $1,941. The committee also backed a set of targeted reimbursements intended to lower practical barriers to public service: a $20,000 per-term allowance to set up a home office and install security equipment; an $18,000 annual family-care reimbursement to help with child or elder care; and an expanded general expense fund of $6,000 a year (the mayor’s would be $11,000). The mayor’s monthly stipend would be $4,500, preserving a 1.5-to-1 differential with councilmembers.

City officials emphasized that much of the package is structured as “up to” reimbursements rather than guaranteed payouts.

“The only thing that will for sure be spent is the stipend,” a senior administrator told the committee, adding that the other categories depend on what members actually claim.

The votes reflected a push-and-pull between the committee’s original ambitions and the council’s caution. A draft advanced last month would have raised the citywide cost to nearly $1 million. Several councilmembers praised the framework — especially support for family care and security — but urged restraint on the totals, warning about “the optics of implementing them all at once” during a period of fiscal strain.

In response, the committee cut the office-and-security fund from $15,000 annually to $20,000 per four-year term, and trimmed the family-care allowance from $24,000 to $18,000. Members also settled the mayor’s stipend at $4,500, rejecting an earlier idea to double it.

“We don’t want to shock them” at City Hall, one member said, describing the scaled-down package as a credible compromise that still addresses everyday costs of serving and be less likely to be rejected.

Even with the reductions, the committee cast the plan as a practical way to broaden who can afford to run.

“Our role here is less about making these positions attractive and much more about removing barriers to entry,” said committee member Vanessa Rodriguez, arguing that child- and elder-care coverage and basic safety investments would open the door to working parents and caregivers.

Others pressed to hold the line on the pay raise itself.

“The stipend is something that I’m not willing to yield on,” said Vice Chair Lena Louise Kennedy, calling $3,000 “barely fair” for the hours councilmembers keep, even with other reimbursements available.

The panel also clarified the general expense account, keeping it broad so members can use it “for the general expenses of office” without a carve-out that might inadvertently limit flexibility. It also urged the city to make a plain that district liaisons’ technology and office needs should be covered directly by the city rather than deducted from a council member’s allowances, addressing confusion that surfaced during earlier testimony.

While the stipend increases drew the most attention, Chair Rita Moreno underscored the overarching constraint. After reporting back on the council’s feedback, she urged the committee to “meet [the council] halfway,” warning that an outsized package could be shelved as unrealistic in the current climate.

Most elements passed with lopsided majorities. The move to $20,000 per term for office setup and security was unanimous. The family-care reduction to $18,000 passed on a 6-2 vote after a lengthy debate over flexibility and fairness. The general expense increase to $6,000 for councilmembers (and $11,000 for the mayor), along with language preserving its broad use, was approved 7-1. The $3,000/$4,500 stipends advanced with strong support after an earlier split over whether to raise the mayor’s pay more steeply.

This is only the third such compensation committee Pasadena has convened, and members noted that the city’s small stipends and allowances have not been systematically updated in decades.

The committee will reconvene later this month to sign off on a written report; the City Council will then take up the recommendations and set an effective date if it acts.