By Robert Haugh
City Manager Jovan Grogan could get a $13,000 pay raise after just months on the job.
If approved by the City Council tonight, Grogan’s annual base salary will increase from $405,056 to $418,220.
According to City records, the merit-based salary adjustment is approximately 1.3 percent.
Grogan is also entitled to a two percent COLA adjustment that is in his employment contract.
Grogan looks to have passed the pay of former City Manager Deanna Santana for her first year.
The 49ers spent millions of dollars criticizing Santana as overpaid during the 2020 City Council elections.
They spent money on independent expenditures to elect Anthony Becker, Suds Jain, and Kevin Park that year.
Here are Santana’s base pay records:
When she became full-time in 2018, Santana’s base salary was $383,788.10. Santana’s salary increases were based on union negotiations and COLA adjustments. Santana was appointed as Interim City Manager in 2017. Her 2019 base salary was $403,319.96.
[…] the City Council is considering giving current City Manager Jovan Grogan another raise this week. He got a pay raise in January, 2024, to $418,000 a year after being on the job for only a […]
Deanna Santana’s amended contract removed the HOUSING STIPEND.
I get notifications about Bay Area news and updates. For the record, there have been MORE notifications with DEANNA SANTANA’s name since she was fired with no cause than when she was CM. Amazing. Just sayin’…..
Robert,
You seem to be insinuating opposition to the pay raise and select facts to back up your insinuated criticism. I think it would be better if everyone reporting on our city’s politics would be more straightforward especially with criticism and also not be so selective with facts or phrasing.
I have been vocal about my many problems with what seems to be behavior by some city councilpeople that has the outward appearance of improperly benefiting the Forty Niners. And also behavior that is unprofessional and unbefitting an elected official in our city.
But it is not only the city council majority who has acted in ways that does not serve our city well. There have been bad decisions and poor behavior or at least petty behavior on the part of Watanabe and Gillmor as well.
I think that the entire council should do better though I am not saying that the entire council has acted equally improperly.
I think that you could be a better force for positive change if you were not so partisan in your coverage and writing. As I frequently write on the Silicon Valley Voice website I think that publication has a lot of problems and poorly serves the public as a news source with their biased and partisan writing.
“After a Few Months On Job”: you seem to be insinuating that Grogan has not been on the job long enough to deserve a raise. That might be the case but it would be better to not minimize the time he has been on the job. He has been city manager for more than half a year. He has been on the job for exactly seven months. Closer to a year than one month and I think “a few months” is inaccurately minimizing his tenure so far.
“Grogan looks to have passed the pay of former City Manager Deanna Santana for her first year.” Deanna Santana’s first year was around six years ago. There is an endless list of things that cost more now than they cost six years ago. If just the COLA increase were applied to Santana’s base salary from her first year then she would be making more than Grogan now. And if she were still city manager and her pay was increased 2% per year from her last year she would be making almost $488 thousand in 2024 compared to Grogan’s new salary of $418 thousand. And would still be getting a housing stipend despite owning her home in Sunnyvale.
I have disagreed many times with people calling Santana overpaid when the difference between her salary and Grogan’s is not significant to the city budget. And I think likening Grogan’s pay to Santana’s first year as city manager is not significant or worthwhile to make as a point. It is basically a tit for tat squabbling over an amount of money that is not the key issue.
The key issues are how well Santana did her job and how well Grogan is doing the same job.
I have not seen anything to indicate Grogan is doing anything other than a fine job. And I have not seen any reason to believe that he has done it in a partisan manner. I do not think that it helps to have a news blog that is so often linked to Mayor Gillmor to be publicly coming across as criticizing Grogan for a pay raise that does not look to be worthy of making any kind of fuss.
In general I do not think it is helpful to the city to squabble over petty differences and insignificant grievances. People opposed to the city council majority would be more effective in opposing them if they stood above petty and tit for tat criticisms.
Thank you for all your work in reporting news and goings on in the city and offering your perspective. I hope that you take my comment for what it is which is my urging you to be the best that you can be in my humble opinion.
Bucher alum, why don’t you come down off your perch judging people. It’s called the real world. It’s called reality.
Deanna was hired in 2017.
Thank you. I will update accordingly.
Good for him…to bad the rest of the city employees haven’t had a cost of living raise in who knows.
You declare it a COLA but the article says otherwise. Merit? Ive seen nothing from him that justifies it. Is he being paid off? Asking for a friend….
“Public Hearing: Action to approve a Merit-based salary adjustment for the City Manager and to Adopt a Resolution approving and adopting the Updated Unclassified Salary Plan that increases the annual base salary for the City Manager to $418,220.76”
Howard,
The merit increase is 1.3 percent (approximately). The COLA is 2 percent.
COLA is part of the employment agreement and union contracts.
Merit-based pay increase is at the discretion of the City Council.
More to come.
Obscene salary request! Didn’t he just get two new “helpers”? If I am counting correctly, 3 people to do Santana’s job at more than double the cost?