Signal Hill : Pay Hike to Be Put on Ballot

Whether elected officials in Signal Hill will get their first pay raise in 21 years will be up to the voters, the City Council decided Tuesday. In a 3-2 vote, the council decided to put it on the ballot rather than give themselves the increase.

Council members Jessie M. Blacksmith and Gerard Goedhart voted to grant an increase from the $150 stipend council members have been receiving since 1966. In a memo, City Manager Robert L. Williams told the council it could increase its members’ salaries up to $418 per month.

“It’s been 21 years since there has been an increase,” Goedhart said. “The action is appropriate for the council to take.”

But Mayor Richard Ceccia, Mayor Pro Tem Sara H. Dodds and Councilman Louis A. Dare decided to put the matter to a public vote. How the ballot issue would read, what dollar amount it would propose and whether it would also include the other two elected city officials--the city treasurer and city clerk--will be decided at a future meeting, Goedhart said.