Charter Review Committee backs language to shield clerk and treasurer pay during terms

The Glendale Charter Review Committee on April 2 voted to recommend charter language that would prevent reductions to the compensation of the elected city clerk and elected city treasurer during their terms and would bar compensation changes that take effect 30 days before nomination papers are filed until the start of the incoming term.

The committee's chair, Flower, presented an alternate draft that would make compensation "commensurate with the responsibilities of the offices," require the council to "consider" granting comparable percentage increases to the clerk and treasurer when other executive officers receive increases, and extend the 30‑day restriction through the beginning of the next term. Chair Flower said the intent was "simply to protect an elected clerk's compensation during their term" and to avoid mid‑campaign changes.

During the public‑comment period, Ara Najarian urged caution, saying the council had previously discussed reducing the clerk's duties and hiring a professional administrative clerk and warned that locking compensation without regard to future role changes could be problematic. Caller Herbert Milano and other speakers argued that compensation controls can be used to influence or silence elected officers.

Committee members discussed differences between the staff draft and the chair's draft, focusing on whether the provision should require the council to "grant" increases or simply "consider" them and on clarifying which categories of city employees the phrase "other officers and employees" refers to. Staff and the assistant city manager explained that some increases are negotiated for bargaining groups and that the clerk and treasurer have historically been treated alongside executive officers and officials.

A motion to recommend the chair's language with the specific change from "officers and employees" to "city officers and executives" was made, seconded and approved by the committee. The committee recorded the motion as passing and will forward the proposed charter amendment language to the City Council for consideration.

What happens next: The committee's recommendation goes to the City Council, which would need to decide whether to place the amendment on the ballot. The staff report noted the proposed language was modeled in part on charter language from other cities and the city attorney's office said it would make technical revisions as requested by the committee.