Ryan Micik (Chair)
C harlotte Hill (Vice-Chair)
Alea Gage
Arvon Perteet
Vincent Steele
Francis Upton IV
Suzanne Doran, Acting Executive Director
TO: Public Ethics Commission
FROM: Ana Lara-Franco, Commission Analyst
Suzanne Doran, Acting Executive Director
DATE: March 30, 2023
RE: City Attorney Salary Adjustment as Required by Oakland City Charter Section 401(1) I
n November 2022, Oakland voters passed Measure X , which amended Oakland City Charter Section 401(1) to add setting the City Attorney salary level to the duties of the Public Ethics Commission (PEC or Commission). This memorandum provides background inform ation for the Commission to adjust the City Attorney salary per the criteria specified by City Charter Section 401(1).
B
ackground
Th
e City Attorney is the department head for the Office of the City Attorney, oversees a staff of 79 FTE positions, and serves as counsel to the Mayor, City Council, and every department of the City, except departments designated as independent departments in the Charter.
I
n November 2012, November 2016, and November 2020, the voters elected the current City Attorney to serve full, four-year terms. The City Attorney’s current annual salary is $243,618.72. The most recent salary increase was in April 2022.
I
n 1998 the Oakland electorate voted to amend the Oakland City Charter and, among other things, to establish an elected City Attorney. A subsequent Charter amendment granted the Council authority to set the City Attorney’s salary and established a formula to determine the range for the salary : 70 percent to 90 percent of “the average salaries of City Attorneys of California cities within the three immediate higher and the three immediate lower cities in population to Oakland.” I
n November 2022, Oakland voters passed Measure X, which amended process for setting the City Attorney’s salary as follows:
The salary of the elected City Attorney shall be set annually by the Public Ethics Commission to provide for competitive compensation and equitable alignment and, taking into account the top of the range for the highest paid professional employee in the Office of the City Attorney and salaries for other City department heads, and shall be comparable to the salaries of City Attorneys and other comparable positions, such as County Counsel or Port Attorney, in California cities, counties and agencies selected by the Commission. The City Attorney's salary may not be reduced during the City Attorney's term of office except as part of a general reduction of salaries of all officers and employees in the same amount or proportion. ( Oakland City Charter Section 401(1))
An
alysis
Si
nce the most recent salary increase, the City has negotiated wage increases through the collective bargaining process. The non -public safety wage increases, as opposed to Police and Fire wage Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
City Attorney Salary Adjustment
March 30, 2023
2 increases, can be a consideration in establishing the new wage since it applies to both City Attorney employees and to other Department Heads. The Department Heads received the same wage increase through Salary Ordinance 12187 C.M.S. section 2.20, which allows the City Administrator to provide the same negotiated wage increases to unrepresented employees.
The annual salary for the Assistant City Attorneys is currently $ 260,437.44, which exceeds the City Attorney’s annual salary by $16,818.72 per year.
1 The City’s compensation practice is to have a minimum of 15 to 20 percent salary differential between a department head and their highest paid direct reporting employee. For the City Attorney salary to be 15 to 20 percent above the salary of the highest direct reporting employee would be a salary between $299,503.06 and $312,524.93
In accordance with the criteria establishing the permissible salary range for the City Attorney in Charter Section 401(1), salaries for other City department heads were surveyed (see Table 1 below).
Table 1: City Department Head Salaries
Based on the above data, the salary range for the Oakland Department Heads is from $181,203.12 to $286,897.20. The average annual salary for Department heads is $237,029.85 per year while the annual salary for the City Attorney is $243,618.72.
In accordance with the criteria establishing the permissible salary range for the City Attorney in Charter Section 401(1), salaries of City Attorney’s from other California cities within the three immediate higher
1 Salary data provided by Anjali Saxena, Payroll Manager, Finance Department. January 17, 2023 Dept Head Annual Salary
Ci
ty Auditor 181,203.12
City Clerk 192,409.08
EEO & Civil Rights Director 211,293.60
Executive Director of CPRA 218,656.00
Director of Race and Equity 218,657.52
Director of Housing & Community Dev 235,620.00
Director of Human Services 235,620.00
Director of Parks & Recreation 235,620.00
Director of Planning & Building 247,390.44
Director of Workplace & Employment Stnd 247,390.44
Chief of Violence Prevention 247,390.56
Director of Animal Services 247,390.56
Director of Economic & Workforce Dev 247,390.56
Director of Human Resources Management 247,390.56
Di
rector of Information Technology 247,390.56
Director of Library Services 247,390.56
Director of Transportation 247,390.56
Director of Finance 261,075.84
Director of Public Works 286,897.20
Average Salary (excluding City Attorney) 237,029.85
Ci
ty Attorney 243,618.72
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
City Attorney Salary Adjustment
March 30, 2023
3 and lower populations compared to Oakland were surveyed (see Table 2).
Table 2: California Cities City Attorney Salaries
*https://publicpay.ca.gov/
**maximum salary recorded. All other salaries are actual salary of the sitting City Attorney.
The above chart shows that most of the City Attorney salaries in California cities of comparable size are higher than Oakland’s current salary rate. The average annual salary is $288,449.48 per year while the current annual salary for the City Attorney is $243,618.72 (84 percent of the average salary).
In addition, the survey of the salaries of City Attorneys in the Bay Area reflects that the Oakland City Attorney’s salary is significantly lower as shown in Table 3 below.
Table 3: California Bay Area Cities City Attorney Salaries
The above data shows that most of the Bay Area City Attorney salaries are higher than Oakland’s current salary rate. The average annual salary is $300,424.66 per year while the current annual salary for the City Attorney is $243,618.72 (80 percent of the average salary).
Recommendation
City Population* Salary
Fresno 543,660 232,463.00
Sacramento** 518,037 331,941.00
Long Beach 460,682 318,972.00 Bakersfield 408,865 214,601.88
Anaheim** 341,245 317,407.00
Riverside 317,847 315,312.00
Average Salary 288,449.48
Oakland 424,464 243,618.72
City Salary*
City of Oakland - City Attorney 243,618.72
City of Hayward - City Attorney 239,450.00
City of Berkeley - City Attorney 253,770.00
City of Mountain View - City Attorney 283,984.56
City of Alameda - City Attorney** 290,320.00
City and County of San Francisco - City Attorney 294,736.00 Port Attorney - Port Attorney 320,000.00
Alameda County - County Counsel 332,901.00
City of San Jose - City Attorney 334,335.00
City of Santa Clara - City Attorney 345,000.00
City of Fremont - City Attorney 309,750.00
Average survey Salary (excluding Oakland's) 300,424.66
*https://publicpay.ca.gov/
**Actual salary
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
City Attorney Salary Adjustment
March 30, 2023
4 Based on the above data, which relies on the criteria set forth in City Charter Section 40 1(1), an adjustment to an annual salary of $306,990.63 is recommended as it provides equity and alignment of the City Attorney’s salary by adding a 15 percent differential above the highest paid subordinate attorneys and staff in the Office, is comparable to salaries of attorneys in other Bay Area cities, and accounts for the scheduled 2.5 percent negotiated wage increase for other City employees effective July 2023.2
Table 4: Comparison Summary
Scheduled wage increases under the current collective bargaining agreements with non-public safety represented employees include 2.5 percent on July 2023, 2.5 percent January 2024, 2 percent July 2024, and 2 percent March 2025. Staff recommends the Commission accounts for future increases, excluding the 2.5 percent July 2023 increase, in the annual adjustment of the City Attorney’s salary.
Following the Commission’s determination of the adjustment amount, Commission staff will transmit the salary adjustment resolution to the City Administrator, the Department of Human Resources (to amend the salary ordinance), and the Treasury Division - Payroll (to implement the increase).
2 Salary adjustment calculated as follows: Highest paid City Attorney office employee salary + 15% differential +
2.5% increase to maintain parity with scheduled wage increase for non-public safety employees effective 7/1/23.
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text
Item 5 - Staff Memorandum with Measure X text