Vallejo board to discuss Anne Cardwell title and salary at meeting – Times-Herald

This week’s Vallejo City Council meeting has an ambitious agenda, including the appointment of Acting City Manager Anne Cardwell as Acting City Manager, an overview of legislative priorities the city considers important, the appointment of new commissioners and a request from the police to intensify surveillance. cameras.

Cardwell has been with Vallejo since the end of 2018. She came to City Hall after working for the towns of Benicia and Martinez. By accepting the acting role, she will receive a 20 percent increase in her salary.

According to Open Payrolls, in 2018 Cardwell received a salary here as deputy city manager of $ 179,214. Transparent California estimates her total salary and benefits at $ 256,153. A 20% salary increase equates to approximately $ 36,000 per year, which will be paid retroactively to June 2. She also receives a car allowance of $ 500 per month. If Cardwell returns to her role as assistant managing director, she will also return to her original salary.

Cardwell will cover the space created when former chief executive Greg Nyhoff left town last month. The Times-Herald asked each council member about the process they might go through to find a new city manager. Deputy Mayor Dr Rozzana Verder-Aliga responded that there was no update as of yet on the research or even how it would be carried out. Mayor Robert McConnell approved, but added that he hopes to include the community’s contribution. No other board member responded.

The council will be updated on legislative advocacy undertaken by the city in 2019 and 2020 and will also consider upcoming legislative priorities. The city coordinates its positions with the League of California Cities, the National League of Cities and Gonsalves & Son, which the staff report says coordinate advocacy with the state legislature.

From 2019 to 2020, the city supported the Fair Access to Credit Act, three affordable housing initiatives, increasing intercity passenger rail services, and reducing plastic waste.

By 2021, the city will support policies that bridge the digital divide, oppose efforts to eliminate or cap the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds, support programs and initiatives that support homeless and affordable housing, support small businesses, support young and old, and support healthy eating and eating initiatives.

From an environmental standpoint, the city will support the objectives of moving towards zero-emission vehicles. On public safety, the city sides with prosecutors and supports “reasonable” criminal justice reform measures that take into account the concerns of prosecutors, victims’ rights groups and law enforcement agencies. order.

However, the city will also support substance abuse prevention programs, mental health initiatives, improved protective gear and solutions for homelessness. Vallejo “will seek funding to deal with the impacts of Proposition 47”, the controversial change in the classification of certain crimes from felony to misdemeanor.

The last on the list seems to be a nod to the new headquarters of the Vallejo Police Department: “Advocate for federal and state funding for new public safety facilities in Vallejo.

Community input will certainly be solicited for the Vallejo Police Department’s request to add up to 80 new surveillance cameras to the city, at a cost of no more than $ 460,000. The city is currently preparing to launch a watchdog / watchdog advisory board in Vallejo and city lawyer Veronica Nebb has said documents to establish one should be completed by the end of the year. . It’s too long, according to Tracy Rosenberg of Oakland Privacy, the organization that sued Vallejo and won after pointing out that there wasn’t enough community outreach and input before the VPD bought. “stingray” technology, which identifies the comings and goings of people using cell site simulators.

VPD says he would like to step up his surveillance efforts on city-owned buildings, in parks and the Ferry Building. Currently the Police Department and to some extent Public Works use license plate readers but would like to add 40 more.

VPD also wants to increase the number of CCTV cameras by 40. The cost of these is about a quarter of a million dollars each year. According to the staff report, the money for this will come from the Special Supplementary Fund for Law Enforcement and the Bay Area Urban Area Security Initiative Grant and other “various funds and grants.”

Finally, the council will make the appointments to the following commissions: Beautification, Economic Vitality, Housing and Community Development, Human Relations, McCune Collection, Town Planning Commission and 4 people, two alternates to the Participatory Budget Steering Committee.

The city council of Vallejo meets on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The meeting can be viewed online at cityofvallejo.net.