Since Chula Vista had the honor of having the fifth highest paid mayor in the state in 2017 (Mary Salas with $190,081.11) and part time council members with between $70,137. and $87,772.64 the Southwest Chula Vista Civic Association members who came to our meeting on June 4 voted to take the position that the council must ask the Charter Review Commission to put on the ballot changing the way the mayor and council salaries are determined ASAP. Residents voted years back to tie the salaries to a superior court judge’s salary, not knowing how outrageous their salaries would become. The salaries should be tied to the median income of Chula Vista residents. It is ridiculous that we are paying a city manager over $300,000 a year to run the city and these people who meet once a week and are not allowed to interfere in the daily running of the city, but have consistently voted to change commercial and industrial properties to residential so that we have large debts and insufficient income are paid such high salaries while 479 city employees (mostly in recreation and library departments) are paid less than $39,000 a year. To balance budgets full-time library staff has already been reduced from 70 to 22 and many recreation, public works and other staff have been laid off to balance our budgets since 2007. Deficits are expected to start in 2019, but Prop. P and A money likely will be used for a few years until they are inadequate to make up deficits. Then will there be another tax increase or can we get them to reduce their salaries and negotiate changes in public safety overtime and benefits which are 67 percent of our budgets? Call the council and demand change: (619) 691-5044 before it is too late. emails are: Mary Salas: msalas@chulavistaca.gov ; Pat Aguilar: paguilar@chulavistaca.gov ; Steve Padilla: spadilla@chulavistaca.gov ; Mike Diaz: mdiaz@chulavistaca.gov ; John McCann: jmccann@chulavistaca.gov
