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SLO City manager and attorney to get bonuses

May 2, 2016

SLO City Manager Katie LichtigBy KAREN VELIE

San Luis Obispo City staff is recommending the council vote Tuesday to give City Manager Katie Lichtig and City Attorney Christine Dietrick $5,000 retention bonuses, Dietrick’s fifth bonus or raise in five years.

Staff based the requests for bonuses on performance and the average pay of comparable markets in recent years, according to the staff report. Nevertheless, members of the community question the high turnover of upper-level staff under Lichtig’s leadership and the growth of public management salaries under the equal compensation model.

“I am appalled by your resolution to award $5,000 each as retention bonuses to City Manager Katie Lichtig and City Attorney Christine Dietrick,” wrote John Grady in an April 29 letter to the SLO City Council. “Both are already overcompensated for a city of our size. Ms. Lichtig earns $230,464 ($321,201 with benefits) and Christine Dietrick earns $199,844 ($275,278 with benefits).

Christine Dietrick

Christine Dietrick

“By way of comparison, Governer Brown earns $177,466 per year and the mayor of Los Angeles (population 3.8 million) earns $232,426 – a mere $2,000 more than Ms. Lichtig. Kamala Harris, California State Attorney General, earns $158,683,” Grady added.

Finance directors and city clerks have been prone to departing San Luis Obispo after brief stints with the city under the leadership of Lichtig. In the past four years, the city has gone through four finance directors, four city clerks and two police chiefs.

In 2015, the council granted Lichtig a car allowance of $450 a month, or $5,400 annually, and a cash bonus of $7,600. Dietrick received a 7 percent raise that increased her base salary by more than $12,000.

The council voted 4-1 to approve the pay increases and bonuses. Councilman Dan Carpenter dissented. The raise bumped Dietrick’s salary from $175,006 to $187,252.

Previously, Dietrick received a 3.5 percent raise in 2012, followed by a 4.5 percent bump in pay in 2013 and a 4.2 percent salary increase in 2014.

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Just for the sake of comparison, where do you think SLO falls in the city population size in the state of California? Ever hear of Hanford or Gilroy? They are larger than SLO! There are approximately 200 cities in California that are larger than SLO. Just saying!


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Grew up in SLO. Never seen such good ol’ boy politics such as is today. Sad. And yes…these folks are far left ungodly human beings. But hey?, the world is not falling apart, it’s falling into place. God still rules over His creation.


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I too am a native of SLO and feel nothing but disgust for this City. It use to be a jewel until all the developers and their paid for politicians took over~ (:


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Given the recent (last five years) extremely poor planning decisions from city management, no pay incentives should be forthcoming. Rather, admin staff pay cuts should be on the table. P.S., those idiotic traffic circles on Chorro are special ($).


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Dietrick & Lichtig are Gods. They should be making over a million a year, at least. Plus, they are taking it with them when they leave.


Vote Yes on Superhuman Government Bureaucrats. They are far wiser than the peasants of the towns.


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You fall into the vote for this one because he is good and this one is bad.. It’s the magician distracting you by watching his right hand while he completes the illusion with his left.


Those with a D next to their name vilify those with an R next to their name and vice versa.


It’s so you don’t realize the politician you are for is as dirty as the one that you are opposed to and they both have teir hands in your back pocket in order to enrich themselves.


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Since its impossible to fire anyone from a government position, what in gods name is a retention bonus? Are they given a bonus because they didn’t quit?


Lets raise taxes to pay for this. Socialism is great until you run out of other people’s money. News flash to you government scum…the taxpayer is tapped out and dwindling in numbers rapidly.


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Wow that is Crazy. The more interesting thing is that there are 93 city managers in California with higher pay than Ms. Lichtig. Even 3 assistant City Managers that make more than Ms. Lichtig.


Seems like a fair salary but I have no idea if she is worth it.


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Hey Folks, if this bugs you, send the council an email at slocity.org, the city website, just like Mr. Grady did. The more they hear the better. It’s Item 14 on Tuesday’s agenda.


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This city is so messed up.


The SLO building department has to send out all of the plans for permits (large plans, not a fence) to a out of town contractor to see if it meets the code (plan check). $$$


Yet the SLO building dept has the time to do rental inspections that will cause permitted repairs to be plan checked by these out of town plan checkers. $$$


Oh look, team Adam Hill has a Jan Marx quote on the front page:

““Adam Hill has a proven ………bla bla………. He’s clearly the most qualified candidate…”

-Jan Marx, San Luis Obispo Mayor


Vote no to Jan Marx Mayor, Fall 2016


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The citizens of the City of San Luis Obispo should attend the City Council meeting tomorrow and raise H__L with the members of the council re these bonuses. When will the citizens say enough? I am anticipating Dan Carpenter will vote against the bonuses as he has done in the past. And by the way, vote NO on Adam Hill. Vote Yes for Dan Carpenter come June 7!


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