Santa Barbara City Administrator Kelly McAdoo is set to get a $40,000 increase in pay and benefits on Tuesday, bringing her total compensation to more than $430,000 annually.
She is expected to receive about $15,670 in a salary increase and benefits, bringing her annual salary to $353,576. In addition, the city plans to contribute $24,000 annually to a deferred compensation plan separate from CalPERS.
“This adjustment aligns the position with current market conditions and preserves the city’s ability to retain and attract top leadership talent,” according to a staff report.
The Santa Barbara City Council is set to vote on the increase at Tuesday’s council meeting — the first one in more than a month. The item is on the consent calendar, which means it will not receive individual discussion unless a member of the public or a council member asks to discuss it.
In addition, McAdoo receives $3,423 a month for the first 36 months she works for the city, or about $41,076 for a “housing allowance,” according to her contract. She also gets a car allowance of about $755 a month, or $9,060 a year, indexed to changes in the IRS mileage reimbursement rate.
Her employment agreement also calls for a variety of benefits, including health, life insurance, and tuition reimbursement of up to $2,000 a year. Her original employment agreement also allowed for up to $16,820 in relocation reimbursement.
McAdoo moved from the city of Hayward and was hired in Santa Barbara in February 2024.
She said the raise outlined in her employment agreement is equivalent to the CPI for the area in the past year.
“While the city faces financial challenges similar to many other cities, we are not in fiscal crisis,” McAdoo said. “My job as city administrator is to ensure we have a budget that allows us to balance between providing services to our residents and paying our employees at a fair level consistent with our comparative recruitment market.”
McAdoo said she underwent a comprehensive performance evaluation with the City Council over the summer that included a 360-degree evaluation with commentary from a variety of stakeholders.
“This raise proposal came as a result of that evaluation,” McAdoo said. “I have been focused on a number of priorities during my first year.”
They include: “1) Begin work improving our organizational culture; 2) focus on State Street and downtown revitalization; 3) stabilize the city’s finances; and 4) focus on the housing and homelessness crisis.”
McAdoo said she is proud of the new executive hires she has made in recent months, terminating the State Street Master Plan consultant and hiring a new one, and “initiation of the comprehensive budget balancing conversation with the council that includes not just revenue-raising ideas but a number of efficiency measures as well,” and several others.
“I am excited to continue work on these initiatives and many others as we move forward to improve our service to the Santa Barbara community,” she said.
The city also has experienced a wave of turnover under McAdoo’s reign, and is projecting budget multimillion-dollar shortfalls the next two years.
Earlier this year, Noozhawk obtained the settlement agreements involving former Library Director Jessica Cadiente and former Public Works Director Cliff Maurer that totaled nearly $800,000.
Cadiente was paid $500,000 in her departure from the city, an amount that includes attorney fees. She also was on a paid leave of absence for nearly a year before that. She earned about $241,000 annually, with pay and benefits.
Multiple sources told Noozhawk that Maurer’s exit was negotiated between him and McAdoo amid a series of issues in the Public Works Department. Maurer’s announcement that he was leaving came as a surprise, sources said.
Cadiente and the library services manager were placed on leave in March 2024. City officials have never disclosed the reasons, saying it is a personnel matter.
Eric Friedman, mayor pro tempore, spoke to Noozhawk about McAdoo’s new contract. Mayor Randy Rowse was unavailable. He had knee surgery on Monday.
Friedman said the city looked at the 360 of her employment, to adjust it for inflation and to stay competitive in the marketplace.
“I think she is doing a great job, and there have been some really big issues that having her expertise and knowledge has been helpful,” Friedman said. “She is doing great job.”