Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao in line for pay raise despite cuts to city services
Oakland's mayor may get a pay raise Tuesday despite cuts to services as the city erased its largest budget deficit in its history.
The raise would bring Mayor Sheng Thao's pay in line with the formula established by the Oakland City Charter for calculating the mayor's salary, which the City Council sets. The council must pass an amendment to the city's salary ordinance to give Thao a raise.
Oakland erased a $360 million deficit last month when it passed its fiscal 2023-25 budget, cutting almost $2 million in funding for a lodge that serves homeless residents.
Oakland city councilmembers will take up the proposed raise for Thao at 2 p.m. at a special City Council meeting at Oakland City Hall at 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza.
"I urge the City Council to set the Mayor's salary at the lowest amount legally required by the City Charter," Thao said in a statement Tuesday morning. "As a leader I know this is in the best interest of the City's fiscal health, and it is also the right thing to do."
Thao said she will reject any raise that exceeds the charter-mandated maximum and give back any amount that exceeds the charter-mandated minimum to be used to pay for city services.
Thao currently makes $202,999.94 a year. The charter-mandated minimum is $216,202.42 and the mandated maximum is $277,974.54.
The two figures represent 70 percent and 90 percent of the average salary of the city managers in six cities with populations like Oakland.
City Councilmember Janani Ramachandran said using the salaries of city managers to set Thao's salary is like comparing apples to grapes.
Ramachandran has said she would support the minimum mandated salary for the mayor, which would be an increase of about $15,000. City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas has said she supports the maximum legally allowable raise for Thao.
The mayor wants to craft a ballot measure that shifts the responsibility for setting the mayor's salary to the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, which sets the salaries of city councilmembers, the city attorney and the city auditor.
"It is my belief that we do not have to continue to do things the way they've always been done and under my Administration we're not going to," Thao said. "Oaklanders deserve better."