John Shirey's 305 thousand dollar per year salary and benefit
package contains 43 thousand dollars more in base pay compared to
Sacramento's previous city manager. Craig Powell with
the group Eye on Sacramento says, overall, the city paid too
much.
POWELL: "The Dow jones industrial has dropped 1900 points in the last four trading days and the nation is facing the prospect of a double dip recession and the city is firing police officers and browning out fire stations, It just seems rather ridiculous to us that the city would be so extravagant with taxpayer money to give a 16 percent raise in the city manager position."
The city's staff report says the base pay is within the current salary range of $187,000 to $281,000.
The report also says the benefits package is less robust than Shirey's predecessors.
This is the first time a city manager has been offered a three-year contract.