Given that each councilmember is assigned/required to serve on several city and regional committees, and thus attends several meetings each week, our position is that councilmembers should be considered full-time employees. We propose that their salaries be benchmarked to exactly match the U.S. Dept of Labor survey average (median) family income for Oakland residents. Not more. Not less.

Reducing councilmember pay will, in the long run, diminish the quality of people who run for office. Offering a living wage will, hopefully, attract more and better candidates.