City manager, city attorney are well paid
Despite economythey get raises of 7 and 8 percent, respectively
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

The city manager and the city attorney of Thousand Oaks each got pay raises when the City Council passed the consent calendar at its Sept. 23 meeting. Now Scott Mitnick makes more than California's governor and Amy Albano more than the state's attorney general.

City Manager Mitnick's salary increased 7 percent to $228,000, and City Attorney Amy Albano's salary went up 8 percent to $203,000.

As an additional benefit, they'll receive Christmas Eve off beginning at 1 p.m. All city employees, including these two executives, get 12 holidays a year.

The two also get medical, dental, vision, longterm and life insurance. The city pays for whatever their medical insurance doesn't cover for an annual physical examination. They also receive an extra 7 percent to pay CalPERS, a retirement plan for pubic employees. And each receives $400 a year to spend on medical expenses, a health club membership or a wellness program, said Connie Hickman, city human resources director.

According to his contract, Mitnick gets 40 vacation days. Albano's vacation days accumulate over the years she works for the city. She began in 2005 and gets 29 days after three years, Hickman said.

The city paid $30,000 each for vehicles the city manager and city attorney drive.

Mitnick gets an extra 15 percent of his annual salary amount put into a retirement investment account. Albano gets an extra 10 percent of her annual salary given to her as additional pay, Hickman said.

If he took a salary, the governor of California would get $212,000 a year. The state attorney general's salary is $184,000 annually.

The consent calendar on the council's agenda is supposed to be made up of items that don't require discussion by the council before they're passed.

Simi Valley's city manager gets $232,000 a year with a car, health, dental, life, vision and disability insurance. He doesn't receive the extra 15 percent of his salary added to his retirement that the Thousand Oaks city manager gets. His deferred compensation is $400, with the option of putting in $75.83 and the city matching that amount. The Simi Valley city manager gets 31 annual days off and 11 paid holidays.

In December, the Simi Valley city manager is up for a 3 percent pay raise, according to assistant city manager Dan Paranick.