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Palo Alto’s city manager’s salary this past year surpassed that of the president of the United States. Ed Shikada received $413,830 plus benefits (e.g., medical and dental insurance, travel, partial housing assistance and other allowances); Joe Biden’s annual salary is $400,000.
The total city payroll was $148 million last year, up 13 percent from 2022’s $131 million, according to a Daily Post news report. City employee salary hikes were awarded by the city council last summer, ranging from 7 to 21 percent, depending on the job. There were 1,315 paid employees last year.
This June the council approved 29 additional full-time employees, bringing the total to 1,344 paid staff. Benefits average $30,000 per employee annually.
In 2022, 10 employees made more than $300,000 a year this past year that number just about tripled — 27 employees broke the $300,000 threshold. That seems like a comfortable amount to live on.
Comparing Shikada’s salary with that of a president of the U.S. shows vast differences in the size and scope of responsibilities. For example, the city of Palo Alto has approximately 65,000 people which he oversees, and had almost a $1 billion budget this past year — and more than $1.2 billion this current year. The presidential area of responsibility in the U.S. far exceeds that of a Palo Alto city manager. President Joe Biden has around 337 million residents that he serves, and a $1.7 trillion budget in 20223. As you well know, a billion is way bigger than a million, and a trillion is a million of billions.
Yet Shikada’s salary was $13,830 more than Biden’s. Seems like Joe doesn’t have as good a salary deal as Ed. But Biden does get to live rent-free in the White House for four years and, maybe four more years, depending on the November 5th totals. Shikada has no Army, Navy or Air Force to oversee –just one police department. Biden has to campaign to win a four-year term. Shikada is not elected to his city manager post that he’s held for six years, but his City Hall office is a bit smaller than the Oval Office. The city manager has a seventh- floor view of the community. Biden just looks out on D.C. traffic.
Maybe I should work for the city?
Palo Alto, in my estimation, provides its employees high salaries and great benefits. So, there are times that I wish I was a city staffer, not only because of the pay and bennies — but also the time off and flexibility perks.
As the city’s website boasts:
“We offer as much flexibility as possible, and choices that enable you to be most productive, including benefits that meet your needs and learning opportunities that you feel passionate about … We offer 12 weeks of full pay for medical leave and 6 weeks of full pay for parental leave …
“(The city has) a global benefits program to spend $1,000 per year on items or experiences that refresh and bring joy. And because we consider every employee a stakeholder in our long-term success, we offer an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with a 24-month lookback …
“Commuter benefits allow you to set aside up to $300 each month for commuter expenses and parking (limit will increase to $315 in 2024). This means you can save money on your taxes, group discounts on auto and home insurance policies.”
Vacations range from four to 12 weeks a year, depending upon longevity. They get flexible time off, employee discounts, free gym se, and even pet insurance.
Employees get lifetime pensions nearly equal to their highest salary earned, including unused vacation and overtime included on paychecks. Retirees get full health benefits, including spousal coverage ,and annual cost-of-living adjustments.
All employees get 12 paid holidays a year and 26 Fridays off. Ostensibly, when the Fridays-off policy started in the mid-1980s, it was with a 9/80 understanding that employees needed to work 9 days every two weeks and a total of 80 hours. To achieve that, the schedule ran from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in-office daily.
That requirement faded away, and then disappeared –like years ago.
Now, we all know, the new new thing is “working from home.” It sounds so nice and so comfortable, so cozy. And it’s happening all over the country. The workplace has changed.
Palo Alto employees spend many hours working from home. According to Shikada, they are encouraged to be at their desks at City Hall two or three days a week – preferably midweek. Some comply, but 7 to 21 percent of the employees aren’t quite meeting those expectations, Shikada acknowledged — but the work is getting done, he added.
I think the younger workforce nationwide has done extremely well in convincing their employers that they are entitled to work at home from home. And Palo Alto is no exception.
See why, at times, I wish I were a city employee?!
Where’s the pushback from City Council? From candidates, especially from those who’ve served before?
When will accountability and fiscal responsibility become city priorities?
Probably never since they can just keep raising our utility rates to fund their perks. DISGUSTING.
And why is Shikada wasting city resources sending us weekly RECIPES??
Comparing a city manager compensation to the President of the United States is great for headlines, but not for any real citizen analysis. Palo Alto online should be doing much better. Or is your goal to be the National Enquirer?
The article would be useful if it compared the Palo Alto city manager with similar bay area cites. For example, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Atherton, Los Altos. That is who we are competing with to hire a city manager.
What is happening with city hall employees cries out for a completely independent audit. Even our city manager apparently admits a minimum of 7% of employees under his management are slacking off. Given how few staff bother to turn up at work at all, what is this standard even based on?
What percentage of our Utility bills are padded and hidden to make approximately $20 million dollar annual profit to transfer to the city’s general to fund all the extra perks above and beyond base salaries?
Most importantly, how do these perks compare to those offered in in the private sector? It’s come to the point where it would be much more appropriate to compare current salaries, hours actually worked, and the perks, with the private sector in neighboring cities.
The piece would gain credibility by noting that a trillion is a thousand billion, not a million billion.
Let’s at least get the math correct here! “a trillion is a million of billions”…is a huge exaggeration. 1 trillion = 1,000 billions. a million of billions is called a quadrillion.
…and as they say: exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement!
My mistake! A trillion is 1,000 billion. Thanks or the correction.
Diana
Diana, are you sure you’ve distinguished between the benefits offered by Palo Alto Networks (a private company, specifically a cybersecurity consulting firm), and the benefits for City of Palo Alto employees? The City of Palo Alto does not offer an Employee Stock Purchase Plan, since it is not a private company and does not have stock.
Diane’s salary comparison fails to account for President Biden’s full living subsidy in the White House. That cost would exceed City of PA benefits.
I agree with Diana Diamond that these salaries and benefits are far higher than they need to be in order to attract competent city employees. They’re also more than we can afford to pay in the long run.
For example, how much are we actually paying city manager Shikada? Start with the $414,000 salary, add $30K for medical, add other benefits like housing assistance, and it’s likely around $600,000. Now add the retirement benefits he will gain from working this year: 2.7% of final pay (at least $414,000) for each year after he retires. If we pay him for 30 years after retirement, that comes to $335,000. To this you must also add $30,000 for medical for that retirement year. So his package alone will cost about one million dollars this year! Kinda crazy.
Here’s the rule of thumb. Including retirement and medical benefits, the total we pay an employee for each year is actually twice the salary. So for those 27 employees with salaries above $300,000, each can expect to get over $600,000 for their year of work, including retirement and medical.
I find these numbers appalling. But we must remember that the working conditions are onerous. It’s a 4.5 day week, and they have to spend half the time actually working in the office. Yikes!
4.5 days work week, generous vacation allowance, an additional 12 days (a day a month) for holidays, plus time off for learning opportunities employees feel passionate about. That totals to a lot less than 4.5 work days a week. Not to mention generous time off for sick days which could easily knock off another day or two per month.
Please correct the erroneous statement in the piece about an “Employee Stock Purchase Plan” The City does not have such a thing. Not sure where Diana found this that she quoted:
” And because we consider every employee a stakeholder in our long-term success, we offer an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with a 24-month lookback …”