Newark City Council Salaries Revealed

They are the makers of the local public policies that bind your actions. In some areas of the San Francisco Bay Area, City Council members are volunteers, compensated for the work they do by the feeling that they’ve improved their community. That is not the case in Newark, California. 

Each member of Newark's City Council is paid $1,134 per month, according to Sheila Harrington, city clerk of Newark. Taxpayers gave all four of them $13,608 per year, plus $3,620 toward their pension in 2012, according to public records. 

The Mayor receives $2,479 per month, which equates to about $29,748 per year. Last year, the city put $7,913 into a pension account for Mayor Alan Nagy. City employees are required to pay for their own medical benefits.

They are elected officials, which means they aren’t subjected to annual performance reviews. If citizens don’t like them, they lose the election, city employees told Patch. 

It could be argued that the brains of the operation is the City Manager, John Becker. Becker’s annual base pay in 2012 was $216,036. 

Should City Council members be paid this much? Tell us in the comments.