BLUE FOLDER ITEM
Blue folder items are additional back up material to administrative reports and/or public comments received after the printing and distribution of the agenda packet for receive and file.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
September 8, 2026
N.2 DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON POTENTIAL SALARY
ADJUSTMENTS FOR THE CITY CLERK, CITY TREASURER AND
MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL POSITIONS IN ADVANCE OF THE MARCH 2027 REGULAR ELECTION
PROVIDE DIRECTION REGARDING THE INTRODUCTION OF SALARY
ADJUSTMENT ORDINANCE(S) AT THE SEPTEMBER 15, 2026 CITY
COUNCIL MEETING
CONTACT: DIANE STRICKFADEN, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES • City Clerk Salary Recommendation from the City Clerk, Eleanor Manzano
CITY OF REDONDO BEACH
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Eleanor Manzano, City Clerk
DATE: September 8, 2026
SUBJECT: City Clerk Compensation Recommendation for the 2027–2031 Term
RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that the City Council establish the compensation for the City Clerk for the upcoming four-year term beginning April 1, 2027, at $12,694 per month, representing a 10% increase over the current monthly salary of $11,540, followed by 3% annual increases for each of the remaining three years of the term.
The proposed salary schedule would be:
Effective Date Monthly Salary Annual Salary
Current – April 1, 2026 $11,540 $138,480
April 1, 2027 $12,694 $152,328
April 1, 2028 $13,075 $156,898
April 1, 2029 $13,467 $161,605
April 1, 2030 $13,871 $166,453
PURPOSE
The purpose of this recommendation is to establish compensation that appropriately reflects the statutory responsibilities, professional qualifications, level of accountability, and organizational responsibilities of the City Clerk of the City of Redondo Beach.
The City Clerk is not simply an administrative clerk position. The office is an elected municipal office established by the City Charter, with responsibilities that encompass municipal elections, official records, legislative documentation, financial oversight functions, and supervision of City Clerk staff.
The compensation recommendation therefore considers:
1. The qualifications required by the City Charter to attain the office;
2. The extensive duties assigned directly to the City Clerk by the Charter;
3. The City Clerk's responsibility for administering municipal elections;
4. The City Clerk's role as a full-time elected department head;
5. The supervision of four full-time employees;
6. The history of City Clerk compensation, including two full four-year terms during which the position did not receive a salary increase;
7. Comparable compensation among neighboring and similarly situated cities;
8. Internal compensation for City of Redondo Beach executive and director-level positions; and
9. The need for a reasonable annual adjustment mechanism throughout the four-year term.
I. CURRENT COMPENSATION AND COMPENSATION HISTORY
The City Clerk's current base salary is $11,540 per month, effective April 1, 2026. The current compensation was established by Ordinance No. 3246-22, which provided for $10,874.74 per month beginning April 1, 2023, followed by 2% annual increases in 2024, 2025, and 2026.
While the City Clerk received these subsequent 2% adjustments under Ordinance No. 3246-22, it is important to recognize the broader compensation history of the office. The City Clerk position went two full four-year terms without a salary increase during 2011-2014 and 2019-2022.
As a result, the current compensation does not fully reflect the cumulative growth in the responsibilities of the office, the professional qualifications required to attain the position, or the evolution of the City's organizational and regulatory environment.
The City Council last addressed elected-official salaries in 2022. At that time, the City Clerk received 2% annual increases for the four-year term.
The proposed 10% adjustment should therefore be viewed as a catch-up adjustment following a prolonged period in which the office did not receive a salary increase, rather than solely as an annual cost-of-living adjustment.
II. CHARTER QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED TO ATTAIN THE OFFICE An important consideration in establishing appropriate compensation is the level of professional qualification required before an individual may attain the office of City Clerk.
The Redondo Beach City Charter establishes specific professional qualifications for the office of City Clerk. The Charter provides multiple qualification pathways involving substantial education and/or professional experience, including accounting education and municipal accounting experience, experience in a City or County Clerk or Registrar's office, or a bachelor's degree combined with significant public or private-sector accounting experience.
These requirements demonstrate that the Charter contemplates a City Clerk who possesses significant professional experience and/or specialized education before assuming the responsibilities of the office.
The professional requirements are particularly relevant to compensation because the City Clerk is an elected official who must immediately assume responsibility for a complex municipal department and perform duties that require knowledge of municipal government, election administration, public records, financial procedures, legislation, and regulatory compliance.
Accordingly, compensation should recognize that the position is an elected professional office with defined educational and experience requirements, rather than an entry-level or general administrative position.
III. CHARTER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CITY CLERK The City Charter establishes a broad range of responsibilities for the City Clerk.
The City Clerk is responsible for maintaining the official record of City Council proceedings, maintaining indexes of those records, maintaining the City's ordinance and resolution books, serving as custodian of the City seal, administering oaths and affirmations, certifying official City records, and administrating the City stand-alone elections and overseeing any city added elections with the County.
The Charter also assigns the City Clerk financial responsibilities, including access to the City's financial system, review of expenditures, and participation in accounting and audit-related functions.
These duties demonstrate that the City Clerk's responsibilities extend well beyond traditional clerical functions.
Election Administration
Of particular importance is the Charter's express responsibility for the City Clerk to administrate/oversee all City elections.
Election administration carries a high level of legal, operational, and public accountability. It requires knowledge of election law, filing requirements, ballot procedures, campaign and financial disclosure requirements, public notice requirements, election timelines, records retention, and at times coordination with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
The City Clerk's responsibility for elections is therefore one of the most significant distinguishing characteristics of the position and should be considered when establishing compensation.
IV. THE CITY CLERK AS AN ELECTED DEPARTMENT HEAD
The scope of the Charter responsibilities demonstrates that the City Clerk functions as an elected department head with independent statutory responsibilities.
The City's current administrative report confirms that the City Clerk oversees four full-time and four part-time employees and is responsible for elections, records management, City Council and agency/commission agendas and minutes, the commission appointment process, legislative history, and other functions.
The combination of:
• elected status;
• Charter-defined authority;
• statutory election responsibilities;
• professional eligibility requirements;
• financial oversight responsibilities;
• responsibility for official City records;
• responsibility for legislative history;
• Council and commission support; and
• supervision of full-time and part-time City employees supports compensation that is appropriately aligned with the City's executive and director-level positions.
V. EXTERNAL MARKET COMPARISON
In July 2026, the Human Resources Department conducted a monthly base-salary survey of comparable cities using the City's established survey group.
The survey found a $13,607 monthly median for full-time City Clerk positions in comparable cities.
Redondo Beach's current salary of $11,540 per month is therefore $2,067 per month below the comparable-city median, or approximately $24,804 per year below the median.
The City's own report concludes that the Redondo Beach City Clerk's compensation ranks below the median for full-time City Clerks in comparable cities.
The proposed 10% adjustment would establish a 2027 salary of $12,694 per month, narrowing the existing market gap while taking into consideration the City's fiscal circumstances.
VI. INTERNAL COMPARISON WITH REDONDO BEACH DIRECTOR POSITIONS The City's Management and Confidential salary schedule provides an additional internal benchmark.
The City's executive and director-level classifications include monthly salary ranges such as:
• Community Development Director: $10,758–$19,592
• Information Technology Director: $10,758–$19,592
• Finance Director: $10,758–$19,021
• Waterfront & Economic Development Director: $9,781–$18,701 • Public Works Director: $9,781–$18,701
• Human Resources Director: $9,781–$18,701
• Community Services Director: $9,781–$17,810
• Library Director: $9,781–$17,810
The current City Clerk salary of $11,540 is within the range of several director classifications but is relatively low when viewed against the City's overall executive compensation structure.
The proposed 2027 salary of $12,694 would better position the elected City Clerk within the City's executive-level compensation framework while remaining below the higher-level executive classifications.
VII. BASIS FOR THE PROPOSED 10% INITIAL ADJUSTMENT
The proposed 10% initial adjustment is supported by the combined effect of several factors.
1. Two full terms without a salary increase
The City Clerk position went two full four-year terms without a salary increase. This represents a significant period during which the compensation of the office did not increase despite changes in the City's responsibilities, regulatory environment, workload, and cost of labor.
The proposed 10% adjustment provides an opportunity to address a portion of that historical compensation gap.
2. Professional qualifications
The Charter requires significant professional education and/or experience before an individual can attain the office.
3. Independent Charter responsibilities
The City Clerk has responsibilities expressly established by the City Charter.
4. Election administration
The City Clerk is responsible for overseeing all City elections, creating a significant level of legal and operational accountability.
5. Financial responsibilities
The Charter assigns the City Clerk specific financial review and audit-related responsibilities.
6. Department management
The City Clerk oversees four full-time employees and manages a department providing critical municipal services.
7. Market position
The current salary is below the $13,607 comparable-city median identified by the City's Human Resources Department.
Taken together, these factors support a one-time 10% adjustment as a reasonable step toward aligning compensation with the actual scope and level of the position.
VIII. BASIS FOR THE PROPOSED 3% ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS
Following the initial adjustment, the recommendation is to provide a 3% annual adjustment for each of the remaining three years of the term.
A predictable annual adjustment provides a stable and transparent compensation structure and reduces the need for the City Council to repeatedly reconsider compensation during the fouryear term.
It also provides a mechanism for compensation to remain reasonably aligned with changing labor-market conditions and the City's executive compensation structure.
The Budget & Finance Commission reviewed the matter on August 13 and August 27, 2026. On August 27, the Commission recommended that the City Clerk's salary increase by the same rate and at the same time as merit increases are provided to senior City staff, while also considering the City's fiscal situation.
The proposed 3% annual adjustment provides a straightforward mechanism consistent with that recommendation.
IX. PROPOSED FOUR-YEAR COMPENSATION STRUCTURE
The recommended compensation structure is:
April 1, 2027:
$12,694 per month / $152,328 annually
April 1, 2028:
$13,075 per month / approximately $156,898 annually
April 1, 2029:
$13,467 per month / approximately $161,605 annually
April 1, 2030:
$13,871 per month / approximately $166,453 annually
Under this structure, the City Clerk's compensation would increase from $11,540 per month currently to approximately $13,871 per month by 2030.
The 2030 salary would be slightly above the current comparable-city median of $13,607, although the actual market median will likely change over the four-year period.
X. FISCAL IMPACT
The City's administrative report identifies an approximate $2,013 annual fiscal impact for each 1% increase in City Clerk compensation under the City's fiscal-impact methodology.
Accordingly, the initial 10% adjustment represents approximately $20,130 in annual fiscal impact under that methodology.
For salary-only purposes, the increase from the current $11,540 monthly salary to the proposed $12,694 monthly salary represents:
• Current annual salary: $138,480
• Proposed annual salary: $152,328
• Salary increase: $13,848 annually
The City's final budget impact would depend upon applicable payroll-related costs and benefits.
XI. CONCLUSION
The City Clerk is a unique position within the City of Redondo Beach.
The office is established by the City Charter, is independently elected, and carries specific professional qualification requirements. The Charter requires substantial education and/or professional experience before an individual can attain the office.
Once elected, the City Clerk assumes responsibility for a broad range of governmental functions, including the administration and oversight of City elections, maintenance of official City records, Council proceedings, ordinances and resolutions, certification of official documents, financial expenditure review, accounting and audit-related functions, and management of the City Clerk's department.
The position has also experienced a significant period of compensation stagnation, having gone two full four-year terms without a salary increase during 2011-2014 and 2019-2022.
The current salary of $11,540 per month remains below the $13,607 comparable-city median identified by the City's Human Resources Department.
The City's internal executive compensation structure likewise provides support for recognizing the City Clerk as an elected department head with responsibilities comparable in scope to other executive and director-level positions.
A 10% initial adjustment to $12,694 per month, followed by 3% annual adjustments for the remaining three years, provides a measured approach to addressing the historical compensation gap while establishing a predictable compensation structure for the full four-year term.
This recommendation recognizes the professional qualifications required to attain the office, the statutory responsibilities assigned by the Charter, the significant responsibility for municipal elections, the management of departmental staff, and the current market position of the City Clerk's compensation.
XII. PROPOSED CITY COUNCIL ACTION
It is recommended that the City Council:
Adopt an ordinance establishing the salary of the City Clerk at $12,694 per month effective April 1, 2027, with 3% annual increases effective April 1, 2028, April 1, 2029, and April 1, 2030, consistent with the compensation structure described in this report.
Respectfully submitted,
Eleanor Manzano, CMC
City Clerk
City of Redondo Beach