VALLEJO – The Vallejo City Council is expected to give City Attorney Veronica Nebb a 20% pay increase while extending her employment contract to 2027.
The council will take up the contract extension during its meeting Tuesday evening. If approved, Nebb’s annual base salary will be retroactively raised from $219,000 to $250,000 as of July 1. The contract allows for 3% salary increases for three straight years, ultimately raising Nebb’s annual base salary to $273,000 by July 2025. Combined with benefits, Nebb’s total compensation is expected top $440,000 by July 2025.
City staff said that the human resources department conducted a salary survey of similar agencies and found that Vallejo’s city attorney position “is below the median market by approximately 23%.”
Nebb was originally hired in October 2020 and given a three-year contract that was set to end in November 2023. The new terms extended the contract from November 2023 to December 31, 2027. Nebb was lured away from the law firm Walter & Pistole, serving as senior assistant city attorney for the cities of Novato and Martinez, according to her bio on the firm’s site at the time.
She replaced Claudia Quintana, who retired in April 2020 after spending eight years as city attorney. Chief Assistant City Attorney Randy Risner was elevated to interim city attorney in late January 2020 as the city began its search for a new city attorney.
In August 2020, the city announced that Risner, who applied for the permanent position, would not be made the permanent city attorney. He returned to the number two position within the city attorney’s office following Nebb’s hiring.
Council expected to raise dispatcher salaries as well
The Vallejo City Council will also be asked to approve salary increases for public safety dispatchers after city staff discovered that three job classifications earn 23% below the market median.
City staff is recommending a one-time salary adjustment including 17% for communication operators I and II and 18% for communications supervisors.
Human Resources Director Rachel Ferguson confirmed that the increase will cost the city $240,000 during the current fiscal year.
“In recent years, the Police and Fire departments have struggled to recruit and retain qualified applicants, which has often resulted in staffing levels below desired standards,” Ferguson wrote in a staff report. “Based on exit interviews conducted by the Human Resources Department, compensation was a significant factor leading to failed recruitment and employee departures to other agencies.”
In June, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245 — the union representing some Vallejo workers in public works, police, water, and housing departments — openly supported a Vallejo Police Officers Association statement warning residents that the city was considering shutting down its overnight dispatch service and moving it to another agency due to low staffing.
The VPOA represents sworn police officers, while IBEW represents civilian employees within the police department.
The Vallejo Sun previously reported that the vacancy rate for dispatchers was dismal with eight vacant dispatcher positions and one supervisor position as of April, which meant nearly half of the budgeted dispatcher positions were unstaffed.
The Vallejo City Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., Tuesday inside the Vallejo City Hall Council Chambers at 555 Santa Clara St.
Members of the public will be able to participate in-person or remotely via Zoom.
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