P.G. referendum against a council pay increase possibly has enough signatures to win.

A referendum petition to overturn a vote of the Pacific Grove City Council to raise council compensation was submitted to the P.G. City Clerk on Tuesday, July 1, by its author and leader of the group Transparent Pacific Grove, former councilmember Luke Coletti. He reported to the clerk a total of 1,693 signatures, over 600 more than was needed to win.

City Clerk Sandra Kandell says her office's initial count tallied over 1,770 signatures. It was a cursory look and did not include checking for duplicates or other issues, she says.

Kandell drove the petition over to the County of Monterey Elections Department on Wednesday, July 2. Elections officials have 30 days to verify the signatures.

Should the referendum win, the council will either have to send it to an election of rescind the new ordinance.

Coletti filed the referendum on May 23, a little over two weeks after the council voted 5-2 on May 7 to increase the mayor's and councilmembers' monthly compensation, which for the last 26 years has been $420 for councilmembers and $700 for the mayor. The increase would take the compensation to $966 and $1,610, respectively.

Council pay has been a contentious issue in P.G., with some residents arguing the positions should be voluntary. Councilmembers who favored raising the compensation said it was necessary to encourage a more diverse field of candidates who could use the money to cover expenses like child or elder care.

Using a state law, they used a more conservative formula that brought the new compensation levels to $966 for councilmembers and $1,610 for mayor, a 130 percent increase. Other city councils in Monterey County have used a different formula resulting in a much higher percentage jump—in Marina their rates were raised by 900 percent.