Del Mar city manager gets pay bump, bonus

Following a favorable performance review from the Del Mar City Council, City Manager Scott Huth on June 6 received a pay bump and bonus.

In a 4-0 vote, the council approved a 3 percent base pay increase for the city manager, adding $5,913 to his annual salary, which now totals $203,005. Huth will also receive a 3 percent bonus. Councilman Dwight Worden was absent from the meeting.

“One of the philosophies that we’ve been working on is to be able to award our folks some performance bonus money in addition to any cost of living or base adjustments that we need to make,” Deputy Mayor Terry Sinnott said.

Among a long list of major initiatives, in 2015 the city managed a balanced budget and enhanced the general fund, as well as acquired $400,000 in new grants and donations for the River Path Del Mar extension under Huth’s leadership.

Del Mar completed the schematic design and design development phases of the new civic center project, which Huth directed though the environmental review, design review and community participation processes. The city also completed a request for proposals for temporary office space and analyzed alternative options for relocation, continued the master planning process for Shores Park, and completed $600,000 in annual street repair and drainage work, including the sidewalk construction project along Jimmy Durante Boulevard.

Among other initiatives, the city completed a citizen satisfaction survey and implemented a plan to address the community’s concerns, as well as launched EngageDelMar, an online community engagement tool that allows residents to provide input regarding city projects.

Huth started as city manager in 2012. In June 2014, the council approved a three-year extension to his contract, effective Jan. 1, 2015 to Jan. 1, 2018. The contract requires that the council review his performance at least once a year.

The council met in closed session to evaluate Huth’s performance. All five members of the council individually completed a performance review of the city manager, which was consolidated into an overall performance score, Sinnott explained.

Mayor Sherryl Parks and Worden also served on a subcommittee to evaluate city manager salaries and benefits.

“It’s a short report, but it’s the result of a long, long process,” Sinnott noted. “We have been working with Scott on a performance-based evaluation where we communicate goals and he responds and reports performance to those goals.”

According to the staff report, Huth’s annual salary is one of the lowest when compared to other city manager salaries throughout San Diego County.

Del Mar’s “general compensation philosophy” has been to retain positions within 5-7 percent of the median, according to the report. The median salary for city managers in the region is $221,613. At an annual salary of $197,092, Huth’s salary was 12.4 percent below the median.