Double-reverse: Fountain Valley City Council opts for raise after all

Future members of the Fountain Valley City Council will receive a $1,200 monthly stipend after all.

The current council, which had already voted twice on compensation over the past two months, brought the matter back for further discussion on Tuesday evening.

An increase from the current stipend of $500 per month was approved during a first reading on Sept. 3, but it was voted down when Mayor Glenn Grandis and Vice Mayor Ted Bui flipped their votes at the second reading of the ordinance on Oct. 1.

Grandis and Bui are both up for reelection in November.

“After the second read, I received two independent and separate inquiries asking about reconsideration, so I took the initiative — given time constraints — to go ahead and put on a motion to renew, and if the motion to renew passes, a second read on the actual ordinance,” said Colin Burns, who provides legal counsel to the city.

The council voted 4-1 to renew the motion and to pass the 140% increase in compensation for council members. Councilman Jim Cunneen remained firm in voting against the pay increase. The raise will go into effect with the seating of the next council following the general election.

Burns reiterated that the council had not seen an increase in compensation since at least 1997, noting that the council received benefits at that time.

“After the great financial crisis, the council got rid of its benefits, so you today are making less on a nominal basis than what they were making in 1997 — nominal meaning not counting inflation,” Burns added during an introduction of the item to the council.

The previous vote at the second reading included a bit of drama, with Bui waiting until well after other council members to cast a dissenting vote electronically. The council verbalized its votes — one at a time — on this occasion.

Ahead of the vote, Councilwoman Kim Constantine said the move to increase the stipend was warranted. “This does make sense,” she said.

Councilman Patrick Harper and Constantine voted in the affirmative, before Bui pushed the raise over the line.

“As mentioned, I donate [the pay],” Grandis said in explaining his vote. “It’s not something that really affects me, and I think, since we have a council majority, I will go in favor of it, as well, just to keep the peace and not bring it back.”

Bui also said that he would donate his stipend to a “nonprofit organization that does great work in the city.”

Public comments before the vote was taken were mixed, though a few expressed dismay with the inconsistency of the voting record.

“I am very uncomfortable with the revote,” resident Anna Katsuki said. “What happened between last meeting and this one? Call me cynical, but what occurred to have someone now change their vote? What precedence does this set? Whoever changes their vote tonight did not do their due diligence in this matter.”

Alicia “Rudy” Huebner, a candidate who repeatedly opposed the compensation increase, called the discussions inappropriate and inefficient.

“I would expect that my council, once a decision has been made, that that decision is final and council moves on to other city business, and yet this keeps coming up time and time again,” she said.

Candidate Katy Wright remained consistent in voicing support for the raise.

“I want to see young people get in here,” Wright said. “I want to see all of these people that keep coming back, not coming back. I want to see absolute term limits, and I want to see a reasonable stipend [so] that a young person can afford to come in here and serve.”