Wildomar City Council approves employment agreement, names Chris Mann city manager

The Wildomar City Council on Monday approved an employment agreement appointing Chris Mann as city manager and updated the city's salary schedule to reflect his compensation.

A staff member summarized the contract terms before the vote, saying the agreement sets a base salary of $281,000, provides annual cost-of-living increases tied to the Consumer Price Index, and runs through Sept. 30, 2029. Benefits listed in the agreement include deferred compensation, health and medical insurance, and accrued annual and administrative leave. Staff read a modification to section 12 specifying that the city will pay 100% of the premium for employee-plus-family coverage for the CalPERS PPO Gold plan or an equivalent city-sponsored plan.

The contract followed a closed-session decision in which the council voted to appoint Mann subject to final approval of the employment agreement. During the open meeting, council members offered congratulations and a few asked questions about the benefit language; a council member said the compensation level made them uncomfortable and announced they intended to vote against the contract.

A motion to approve the employment agreement was made, seconded and adopted. The clerk announced the motion carried with four votes in favor and one opposed, naming Council member Morabito as the dissenting vote. After the vote, Mann thanked the council, said he had served as interim manager for about four and a half months and said he looked forward to serving the community in the permanent role.

The mayor thanked staff for their work on the process and the council discussed a brief ceremonial transfer (a plaque and photographs) to mark the change from interim to permanent city manager. The mayor adjourned the meeting at 5:10 p.m.