Council May Give Itself a Raise--First in 46 Years : Government: Plan would hike the current $50-per-month stipend to $600. Voter approval would be required.

SANTA MONICA —  If you haven’t had a raise in the past few years, consider the Santa Monica City Council, whose members still pocket the same monthly stipend they did in 1946: $50.

But if a recommendation by the city’s Charter Review Commission is approved, that figure would jump to $600 per month--in line with council pay rates for similarly sized cities in California, according to commissioners and city officials.

The council could consider the issue as early as next month, then place the issue on the November ballot.

If approved by voters, the raise would mark the first time council members’ pay has been increased since the current city charter took effect 46 years ago. But already some members are hinting that the figure is too low, and at least one other is sounding a cautionary note about excessive increases.

Councilman Herb Katz said he supports a stipend of $400 to $600 a month, but he stressed that serving on the council is “not a full-time job” and called for strict limits on future cost-of-living increases.

The 15-member charter commission--which is appointed by the council--recommended that any future increases also be approved by voters. Some communities in California automatically award council members 5% annual increases.

“I want a ceiling on it,” Katz said. “I want the concept of a voluntary council left intact.”

Others on the board seemed more concerned about being underpaid.

Mayor Ken Genser said he will reluctantly support the recommendation of the commission, but he added that he would prefer a pay rate commensurate with that of a low- to moderate-paying part-time job--somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 to $1,500 per month.

Genser noted that the demands on a Santa Monica council member cannot be compared with other communities where council meetings typically end well before midnight.

“I think our agendas are far more complicated than most cities our size,” he said.

Councilman Dennis Zane called the current $50 stipend “a token, if not a joke, especially if measured against the extraordinary hours that are needed to be effective in Santa Monica politics.”

Raising the salary to $600, he added, would minimally adjust for inflation.

The charter commission also recommended that council members receive the same medical and dental benefits as city employees, benefits currently denied them under the current charter.

Santa Monica council members are among the lowest paid elected officials in Los Angeles County. On the Westside, Beverly Hills pays its council members $331 a month; Malibu pays $300; Culver City, $440, and West Hollywood, $500.