Title
Recommendation to Approve the Third Amendment to the Employment Agreement for the City Attorney, Effective July 13, 2025.
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On June 17, 2025, the City Council considered the recommendation of a City Council Subcommittee that had reviewed the salary of City Attorney Yibin Shen. As part of that consideration, in recognition of his performance, responsibilities and his salary relative to other comparison agencies, the City Council has indicated its intent to authorize an increase in the City Attorney's annual salary by 6.41%, from $326,473 to $347,400, effective July 13, 2025. The recommendation is for the City Council to approve this increase by an amendment to Mr. Shen's Employment Agreement and to provide in that amendment a list of cities and one County of Alameda classification to be used when, in future evaluations, surveys for salary and other employment benefits are conducted for the City Attorney.
BACKGROUND
Mr. Shen has been the City Attorney since May 2019. Consistent with longstanding practice, the City of Alameda (City) maintains an individual employment agreement with its City Attorney, which establishes the terms and conditions of employment for the City Attorney. Mr. Shen's Employment Agreement and amendments are attached as Exhibits 1, 2, 3 and 4. The Agreement may be further amended as part of the City Attorney's annual evaluation process. With the assistance of a facilitator (Rick Haydon with the Municipal Resource Group), the City Council completed the City Attorney's annual evaluation earlier this year and authorized a 6% salary increase (to $326,473). As part of that evaluation process, Mr. Haydon had conducted a compensation (salary and benefits) survey for informational and comparative purposes
In March 2025, Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft appointed Councilmembers Boller and Daysog to an Ad Hoc Subcommittee (Subcommittee) to meet further with Mr. Haydon to review...
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