Massive raise could solidify Oakland mayor’s high-earning status in California

OAKLAND — Mayor Sheng Thao is poised to receive a nearly $75,000 salary bump just six months after taking office — an increase that would come on the heels of what officials have described as the city’s largest ever budget shortfall.

Thao, who took office in January, would earn just shy of $278,000 a year — about a 38% raise — if the council approves the increase at a July 18 meeting. A council committee voted 3-1 on Tuesday to approve an updated salary schedule for the mayor.

Already one of the highest-earning city mayors in California, the new wage would put Thao near the very top spot, which last year was held by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who made about $357,000, according to data from the state controller that KTVU first reported Tuesday.

A key justification for the proposed increase: more than a decade has passed since Oakland’s mayor last received a salary bump, council President Nikki Fortunato Bas said at a meeting Tuesday.

But the more important factor is Oakland’s city charter, which requires that the mayor is paid between 70% and 90% of the salaries of city managers in the “three immediate higher and the three immediate lower cities” by population in California.

For context, the former Oakland city manager, Ed Reiskin, was paid $377,257 last year, per state data. At a salary just under $203,000, according to the city, Thao is currently $13,000 shy of that lower pay rung.

But a city report also states that the mayor currently makes $21,000 less than a subordinate position — the “special assistant to the mayor,” prompting Human Resources director Ian Appleyard to propose that Thao begin earning the city’s maximum allowable salary instead.

It’s unclear why city officials chose now to fix those discrepancies, but the timing did not sit well with Councilmember Janani Ramachandran, who on Tuesday voted against sending the new salary amount to the larger council table.

“We have just gone through a rigorous budget process where we’ve had to make tough decisions,” Ramachandran said, citing cuts at the Department of Violence Prevention and other programs that nearly equaled the mayor’s current salary.

She also questioned why the charter’s language compares the Oakland mayor’s salary to those of city managers — who typically are paid handsomely by cities looking to hire competitively — and not to other mayors around California.

The $75,000 increase would come from existing salary savings in the budget, keeping it balanced against the city’s deficit, an official said Tuesday.

Councilmember Kevin Jenkins, who supported the ordinance, said he’d like to see the city charter amended so such salary considerations are handled by the city’s Public Ethics Commission and not the council.

The mayor did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the proposed raise.

Before her election in November, Thao served one term on the City Council, whose members are paid between $100,000 and $107,000 per year, according to state data.