Fountain Valley City Council reverses course, declines raise

The Fountain Valley City Council meets in Council Chambers.

By Andrew TurnerStaff Writer

Oct. 2, 2024 4:24 PM PT

A month after the Fountain Valley City Council appeared poised to raise its monthly stipend to $1,200 per month, the balance of the council rejected the pay increase during the second reading of the ordinance on Tuesday night.

Mayor Glenn Grandis and Vice Mayor Ted Bui, both of whom are up for reelection in November, joined Councilman Jim Cunneen in voting against the pay bump, which would have marked an increase of 140% from the current stipend of $500.

Several votes have been taken on the matter by the council members. The panel passed on giving itself a raise 16 months ago, with Grandis, Bui and Cunneen casting the deciding votes in a 3-2 decision.

Grandis, who has repeatedly said he donates all of his earnings from serving on the council to autism charities, and Bui opened the door to a potential compensation increase by voting in the affirmative on Sept. 3.

Bui had suggested that the county average of $1,453 cited in the staff report would be fair. Grandis, at the time, had voiced agreement with council candidate Katy Wright that increasing the pay for council members might make a difference for some looking to serve on the dais in the future.

The panel heard arguments for and against the pay increase. By and large, those against the raise called council members public servants who should be good stewards of taxpayer money.

Alicia “Rudy” Huebner and Wright, the challengers running for council, were consistent in their position.

“I strongly encourage you to vote ‘no’ on this item, to remember that your calling is, as public servants, to serve the community,” Huebner said. “I believe that the stipend that is currently in place is appropriate. Serving on City Council is not a full-time job. You all have careers. You’re all making a living. This isn’t a vehicle for self-enrichment.”

Wright called on council members to look past how the public might view a pay increase, reasoning that it would make it possible for more people to consider running for office.

“It would be a sign of bravery, in my view, … that you’re bucking the system and bucking worrying about what the public’s going to think of you,” Wright said. “It’s not all about you. A couple of you and a candidate are perfectly fine. They say they would do it for nothing, and that is noble, and that is wonderful, but most people can’t do it for nothing. Most people aren’t in that position. We want young people to be interested in government and to think about running.”

Councilwoman Kim Constantine followed the public testimony with almost 17 minutes of uninterrupted advocacy for the council to consider taking its pay to $1,600 per month, the maximum allowed under current state law for municipalities with a population between 50,000 and 75,000.

Fountain Valley council members do not receive benefits and have received a monthly stipend of $500 dating back to at least 1997, according to Colin Burns, who serves as the city’s legal counsel.

Constantine pointed to the various ways in which council members represent the city at the local, county and state levels, as well as at community events and meetings.

“As City Council members, we are not going around Fountain Valley collecting bags of money and filling our bellies with free food,” Constantine said. “It just doesn’t happen. … There are monetary gift limits, and we appropriately declare anything applicable on the Fair Political Practices Commission forms that are also available for public viewing at City Hall and on the city’s website.”

Constantine went on to say that the council would be “facilitating a challenge for a future City Council” by declining to raise its compensation to $1,600 per month.

Grandis said he views serving on the council as a “volunteer job,” adding moments before the vote that he had “no skin in the game, either way.”

Fountain Valley City Council reverses course, declines to give itself a raise

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