PAMDALE COUNCIL GIVES 2.5% RAISE TO CITY MANAGER; TOONE'S SALARY TO BE ALMOST $143,000.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

Palmdale City Manager Bob Toone will get a 2.5 percent pay raise to $142,913 a year, bringing his salary closer to those of administrators of comparably sized cities, the mayor said Thursday.

Mayor Jim Ledford said the 2.5 percent raise from $139,363 was a compromise between the position of Councilman David Myers, who would have preferred not to give any raises beyond those spelled out in Toone's contract, and that of Ledford and Councilman Joe Davies, who advocated a 5 percent raise.

The average salary for city managers in California cities of about the same population is $143,328, Palmdale officials say. Toone's salary will still be below Lancaster City Manager Jim Gilley's $169,000 a year and Santa Clarita City Manager George Caravallo's $160,500.

``Bob has performed admirably,'' Ledford said. ``One only needs to look around to see the positive things happening in the city.''

With dissent from member Shelley Sorsabal, the council voted 3-1 vote for the raise.

``We already have a contract that's very specific about what is to occur,'' Sorsabal said. ``It's specific that he is to get cost-of-living raises. It does not say there will be a review and merit raises.''

Any further changes to Toone's contract will have to wait until the next evaluation, which will occur next fall, just before his contract is ready to expire.

Toone has been the city manager of Palmdale since 1986. His contract was last amended in June 1997 and runs to Dec. 31, 2000.

Before coming to Palmdale, Toone served as the assistant city manager for La Mesa for 10 years after serving as the village manager for Richton Park, Ill., where he helped reorganize local government into the council-manager form.