For Whom The Bell Tolls – Monrovia Posts City Salaries On Website
By Terry Miller
Published: Friday, July 30th, 2010
-Photograph by Terry Miller
It seems Monrovia Council is one of the first cities to posts salaries, benefits online in the wake of Bell’s embattled City council.
In the face of the continuing salary and benefits controversy in the City of Bell, Monrovia’s City Council has ordered full online disclosure of both their salaries and those of the City’s top managers.
“Our salaries and benefits have always been matters of public record,” said Mayor Mary Ann Lutz. “With the current interest of the public in municipal compensation, though, we’ve decided to make it very easy for anyone to get this information.”
Monrovia has posted the City Council and top management salaries and benefit packages on its website, linked directly from the homepage at www.CityofMonrovia.org.
The information shows Monrovia City Council salaries of $460 per month ($4,800 annually) and a City Manager salary of $181,956 annually, a far cry from the extraordinarily-high $100,000-plus council and $800,000-plus city manager salaries being reported in Bell.
“Our citizens are, of course, concerned when they hear news reports of municipal employees and elected officials making outlandish salaries, such as the case in Bell,” Mayor Lutz continued. “It is important at times like these that they have confidence that their community is doing the responsible thing.
“Fiscal responsibility has always been, and continues to be, the top priority of Monrovia’s City Council,” she said.
Mayor Pro Tem Tom Adams agreed, saying, “What has happened in Bell is scandalous and outrageous, but it doesn’t change the fact that Monrovia’s Council and staff have always been responsible in their compensation. There are apparently a few bad apples out there, but they’re not in Monrovia and whatever games they’ve been playing aren’t being played here.”
Lutz also pointed out that Monrovia has held back on Council and management raises for the past two years, cut employee bonuses, and has been restructuring compensation and benefit packages for some time to keep costs down and yet sustain and expand services. Even the City Manager’s contract now contains a pay-per-performance structure that has replaced the traditional bonus system.
“We’ve held the line on personnel costs and maintained a balanced and responsible budget,” the Mayor said. “Monrovia is doing it right.”
Lutz and Adams were joined by other members of the Council in condemning the situation in Bell and reassuring Monrovians of their community’s financial situation:
“This Council has always been open in its financial decisions,” said Council Member Joe Garcia. “I can assure the people of Monrovia that the kind of things that have gone on elsewhere could not happen here. We are transparent in our dealings for just that reason. Our budget is balanced and our salaries are well within reason.”
Council Member Clarence Shaw also reminded Monrovians that, “With each budget the City adopts, we also adopt a list of our top priorities, and Fiscal Responsibility is right up there at the top every time, along with Public Safety. We will not overpay ourselves or others and put those priorities at risk.”
And Council Member Becky Shevlin said, “It’s not enough just to say, ‘it’s not us; it’s the other guy.’ Monrovians need to know for sure that their City is ethically and responsibly run, and so posting our salaries and benefits online is a great idea.”
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