Lakewood Council earns $41,000
Public records request reveals officials' actual compensation by name.
By Brian Maquena
March 5, 2022
Lakewood City Councilmembers are compensated more than double their actual salaries, making Lakewood the seventh-highest paying city for councilmembers among Californian cities with populations of 100,000 or less.
The Lakewood Populist reported in October 2021 how Council was voting to slightly raise its monthly salary to $1,686, or $20,232 annually. The $37 monthly increase goes into effect this year. However, the total compensation of Councilmembers is actually a little over $41,000 — more than double their publicized salaries.
“For all these commission meetings that last less than five minutes, they get paid for that,” said Gregory Slaughter, the man responsible for pushing the city into adopting district elections and who is now running against Vice Mayor Steve Croft for District 2.
“We the public are thinking they are making around $18,000 to $19,000 a year,” said Slaughter, who had to push for the release of public information showing Councilmembers’ salaries.
On Feb. 21, Slaughter first requested the City Clerk for Council’s 2020 and 2021 salaries, only to be given a copy of the city’s municipal code regarding Council’s salaries. The municipal code received by Slaughter on Feb. 25 did not give any actual salary numbers that were still current.
Undeterred, Slaughter informed the City Clerk that he already had the municipal code and went onto request the W2 salary amounts of Councilmembers for 2020 and 2022. A retired Santa Monica police officer, Slaughter remembered how newspapers were able to get the W2s of him and his colleagues.
City Clerk Jo Mayberry confirmed to the Lakewood Populist on Thursday that the W2 information was public. That evening, Slaughter received from Mayberry an emailed list of each Councilmember’s W2 salary/compensation amounts for 2020 and 2021.
“I think $41,000 sounds excessive,” said Michelle Hamlin, who announced her candidacy against longtime incumbent Todd Rogers for District 1.
Rogers was compensated $41,479.32 in 2021.
Hamlin said she wanted to see an explanation for where the extra money was actually coming from.
The $41,000 salary figure included health insurance and other benefits, such as allowances for mileage and the use of Councilmembers’ personal vehicles for city business, said Bill Grady, Lakewood’s director of communication, in an email. He said it was more accurate to describe the $41,000 as total compensation rather than salaries.
“In the HR world, total compensation is calculated as the combination of S&EBs,” Rogers wrote via email, “salary and benefits, such as medical insurance.”
Rogers directed the Lakewood Populist to the City Manager’s office for further information on Council salaries.
When voting last October on their monthly salary increase, it appeared that the monthly salary was the near-total amount they were receiving. There was no mention of an additional, doubling of their compensation via benefits or anything else.
“None of us ran for office for the salary,” said Vice Mayor Steve Croft at the October 2021 meeting, “but we all also know that there are expenses we incur and wage and career opportunities that we pass up due to our commitment to serve our communities.”
Croft was Lakewood’s highest-compensated Councilmember in 2021, costing Lakewood taxpayers $41,617.32. His unelected appointee, Councilwoman Vickie Stuckey, also received the same amount for 2021.
The Lakewood Populist has reported in depth how Croft and Stuckey, along with Councilman Ariel Pe, worked to pass a suspicious election map that appeared to benefit Croft and Stuckey at the expense of Pe and Mayor Jeff Wood. It also ensured that through 2024 a large swath of central Lakewood would be the only Council district without a Council representative residing in the district.
When attempting to justify his salary, Croft said at the October 2021 meeting that Lakewood had put its financial house in order by passing Measure L, which raised sales taxes in Lakewood. He also highlighted how Council had only raised its salary once in 15 years, putting Council’s salary 24 percent lower than what it once was due to inflation.
Council passed the monthly salary increase with a 4-1 vote, Wood voting against it.
The Lakewood Populist left a voicemail for Croft but did not receive a reply.
A similar voicemail to Pe, who was compensated at $41,015.88 by the city in 2021, also went unanswered. Wood, who was compensated $41,479.32 in 2021, responded to an email and said he would answer further questions when available.
Wood, Pe and Stuckey were in Sacramento as of Thursday on city business.
The apparent lack of transparency regarding public salaries is not a new issue in Lakewood.
As the Lakewood Populist has reported, Council did not provide an in-depth written report fully detailing the City Manager’s salary when voting to increase it. In fact, no report was included in the agenda packet for the October 2021 meeting when City Manager Thaddeus McCormack’s salary was increased to $22,698.90 monthly.
When the Council first hired McCormack in August 2017, no written agreement was included in the Council’s agenda nor the minutes archive. Instead, the City Manager’s contractual agreement was then-provided in 2017 via oral presentation by City Attorney Steve Skolnik, per Council’s agenda records.
“Our calling card is transparency,” said Rogers at the October 2021 meeting.
When asked if he thought Council was being transparent and honest, Slaughter answered, “No.”
The [compensation] figures are a whole lot higher than they announced,” he said.
Slaughter also expressed concern about the amount Councilmembers will make for retirement once they reach 10-and-20 year marks in office. Rogers has already met both marks, and Croft will reach the 20-year mark if he wins his reelection bid in June.
Slaughter said he would abolish any retirement system for Councilmembers. He added that $1,000 per month was a decent enough compensation.
Hamlin said she thought the budgeted $1,686 monthly compensation was fair, saying the $41,000 compensation figure bothered her.
“That’s concerning,” she said.
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NOTE, A clarification to the first sentence was added Saturday at 10:21 a.m. Lakewood is the 7th highest paying city for Councilmembers. Cities pay their councilmemebers varying salaries and have several councilmembers. So there are more than 7 councilmembers with higher salaries than those in Lakewood. But the City of Lakewood itself ranks as the 7th-highest paying city for councilmembers.