Laguna Beach assistant city manager to receive 10% pay raise

To retain and reward Laguna Beach’s second-in-command, the City Council unanimously approved giving her a 10% raise Tuesday night.

Shohreh Dupuis, who serves as assistant city manager/director of public works, will see her base annual salary increase from $216,428 to $238,060.

Dupuis, who came to the city in 2016 following several years as Irvine’s deputy public works director, said she loves living and working in Laguna Beach.

“I have some very personal ties to this city,” she said. “I also really enjoyed seeing the fruits of my labor. Everything I’ve done in the last three years in this town, I see it every day, everywhere I go.”

Dupuis currently heads several large-scale city projects, including the roll-out of a new parking system, the two-year Village Entrance project and regular implementation of the local capital improvement plan. She works alongside fellow Assistant City Manager Christa Johnson.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, Dupuis led a presentation from the Wildfire Mitigation and Fire Safety Subcommittee — which received unanimous approval for its nearly 50 recommendations.

Mayor Bob Whalen referred to her as the “quarterback” of the subcommittee.

“We are heading into an incredibly tough season in the city and it isn’t the time to lose somebody like Shohreh,” said Councilwoman Toni Iseman.

In response to questions from Mayor Pro Tem Steve Dicterow, City Manager John Pietig said Dupuis would be a fitting choice to take Laguna’s top job in the future. He emphasized Dupuis is being “actively recruited” for city manager positions in other cities.

“If the council does not take this action, we will be very likely to lose Shohreh to another opportunity in the very near future,” Pietig said.

The council split last month on giving Pietig a raise of 2.5% in each of the next two years, making his salary about $280,000 annually.

According to Transparent California, an online database of state employees’ compensation, Dupuis earned nearly $57,000 in benefits on top of her base salary in 2017.

A few people who were still in the audience when the council took up the item close to midnight protested that the salary increase was fiscally irresponsible and “reactive.”

Councilman Peter Blake responded, “$25,000 is nothing when you look at how much it would cost us to have to train an employee to replace her. This is us not reacting, it’s good business.”