Modesto city manager expected to get a raise. How much will council bump his pay?
The Modesto City Council on Tuesday is expected to give City Manager Joe Lopez a 7.6% pay raise, increasing his base salary from $238,035 to $256,221.
A city report says this would be Lopez’s first merit increase since being appointed city manager in July 2018 and comes after council members on Feb. 8 unanimously gave him a “very positive performance evaluation rating of highly competent.“
Lopez, 46, also receives a 2.5% incentive for having a master’s degree. That would bring his salary to $262,627 after the council approves his merit increase. He also receives a $6,000 annual vehicle allowance, according to his employment contract on the city’s website.
Lopez started with the city in January 2012 as its human resources director, then became administrative services director and then a deputy city manager. He served as acting and interim city manager from April 2017 until being named to the job on a permanent basis in July 2018.
Before coming here, Lopez worked in human resources for Sacramento County for about a decade.
Bill Zoslocki , who has served on the City Council since 2013, said Lopez has grown a lot as city manager and he appreciates that the executive is steady and thoughtful, does what he says he will do and works hard. “He puts the time into the job,” Zoslocki said. “The guy works like really hard.”
Zoslocki said Lopez has worked with the council in developing a long-term vision for the city and has aligned the city departments’ efforts with that vision. “It keeps the city on track,” Zoslocki said.
Lopez also has been helped by working under a new council. Three of the six council members were elected in November 2020, and Mayor Sue Zwahlen was elected in a February 2021 runoff election. The previous council often was divided and dysfunctional. Lopez did not always have the support of then-Mayor Ted Brandvold and some council members.
“He was literally walking on eggshells,” Zoslocki said. “... We have a new mayor who is much more balanced at looking at what he does. She brings him in (on what she is doing) and works with him.”
While this is Lopez’s first merit increase (he’s had two performance reviews since becoming city manager, according to the city report), his pay has increased during his tenure.
His annual base salary was $214,376 when he was appointed city manager in July 2018 and has increased by about $24,000 since then. The city report states Lopez has received cost-of-living and market rate adjustments that were part of increases approved by the council for city employees.
But the city report states Lopez’s salary has remained “just above the midpoint of the salary range during his tenure as city manager.”
Lopez oversees a city government with about 1,200 full-time employees and an annual operating budget of about $478 million.The City Council on Tuesday also is expected to:
▪ hold a public hearing on a draft map setting the boundaries for Modesto’s six council districts based on the 2020 census. The major change being proposed would move the airport neighborhood from District 4 to District 2. The neighborhood would be part of the district that includes south and west Modesto. The council is expected to consider adopting a map at its March 8 meeting.
▪ consider an ordinance requiring contractors bidding on city public works contracts to make a good faith effort to have local workers make up at least a quarter of the workers on these projects. The ordinance also “provides a framework to possibly increase the (use) of skilled work forces in city public works contracts.”
▪ consider approving an agreement for as much as $169,280 with Mission Critical Partners to analyze the city’s emergency dispatch services options. The council in October voted to serve the Stanislaus Regional 911 center Joint Powers Authority with notice of its intent to end its relationship with the JPA effective Jan. 1, 2024.
The City Council meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. in the basement chambers of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St. Members of the public will be required to wear face masks and practice social distancing.
The public also can watch a livestream of the meeting and over Zoom. More information is available at www.modestogov.com/749/City-Council-Agendas-Minutes.
