Council approves salary increases for city administrator, clerk

GILROY—Two employees at City Hall tasked with helping run the Garlic City have received a 2 percent bump in pay, on the heels of similar raises being negotiated for some of the city’s other employees.
The Gilroy City Council unanimously approved granting 2 percent salary increases July 1 for City Administrator Tom Haglund and City Clerk Shawna Freels, who both earn six-figure salaries.
The pay increases came after the completion of negotiations with a majority of the city’s labor groups—including police, fire, general employees and managers—who are slated to get a 2 percent increase, too.
That way, City Human Resources Director Leeann McPhillips said, all management employees receive compensation consistent with their colleagues.
“Two percent is what we can afford,” Mayor Don Gage told the Dispatch.
Haglund collects a salary of $226,186, up $5,000 from $221,751 following the council’s united action.
Freels earns $111,104, an increase from $108,925.
The recommended salary increases were the result of two council subcommittees, comprised of Mayor Don Gage and two sitting council members. Each trio completed performance evaluations and appraisals of their compensation relative to surrounding cities of a similar size, according to Gage.
“We have a set of six cities of a similar size we look and we try to keep our compensation just above average,” he added.
Both subcommittees ultimately made the recommendation to the full council for salary increases.
The council, in April of 2014, also voted unanimously for the same 2 percent increases for both employees. Prior to those 2014 increases, Haglund earned $217,403 and Freels collected $106,670.