By Emilie St. John
Contributing Writer
INGLEWOOD — The newly elected city treasurer was awarded a $9,000 annual salary increase during the Dec. 17 City Council meeting.
Angela Allen was elected after receiving nearly 56% of the vote Nov. 5 over her opponent Taylor Bryant, who was backed by Congresswoman Maxine Waters and former City Treasurer Wanda Brown.
The salary increase became a point of contention between Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. and District 1 Councilwoman Gloria Gray, who refused to vote on the salary ordinance that also increased the salary of the city clerk and several members of the city’s executive team.
Gray said she supported the salary ordinance but refused to vote on the ordinance because she had questions about the salaries of the department heads.
“There’s a difference in the salaries of department heads and I believe they are equal in their responsibilities,” Gray said.
City Manager Mark Weinberg explained the salaries are compared with other cities of similar size with similar duties and responsibilities and also for internal alignment.
“The public works director would receive a higher salary than the human resources director because of the variants of the number of employees they supervise,” Weinberg said.
Gray also questioned the salary increase for Allen when Weinberg was unable to articulate what the previous salary was.
According to the Inglewood Municipal Code, the salary for city treasurer is $1,414 per month. Under the Inglewood Salary Ordinance 23-10, the position was paid $7,949 due to added duties.
“I don’t have the previous salary in front of me but there are occasional adjustments made to the salary which is why it’s in the ordinance,” Weinberg said.
The position had the duties removed and salary reduced to $1,414 when Brown started speaking out against the mayor and the city’s finances.
When Gray questioned the justification she was told it was due to the position’s duties being restored.
“The duties were removed and now they are being restored and again in alignment with other positions in the city,” Weinberg said. He did not elaborate on what the treasurer’s position aligned with.
The accompanying staff report didn’t provide any audit findings and/or analysis showing what the salaries were compared to.
The council voted 4-0 to increase the treasurer’s salary from $1,414 per month to $10,441 and increase the city clerk’s salary from $9,604 to $10,661 a month.
Gray refused to vote on the item.
Weinberg was previously asked about the formula for calculating the increases for the city clerk and city treasurer considering the duties primarily include being members of certain committees and the city clerk serving as a department head.
“Neither any of our classified employee position salaries nor electeds’ salaries are established through formula,” Weinberg said. “As is common among governmental agencies, they are based upon an analysis of job duties and responsibilities, and in the context of current market comparison studies.”
Emilie St. John is a freelance journalist covering the areas of Carson, Compton, Inglewood and Willowbrook. Send tips to her at emiliesaintjohn@gmail.com.
