Hesperia city manager gets five-year extension

HESPERIA • City Manager Mike Podegracz received a five-year contract extension during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

His employment agreement will extend his initial contract, which was to end July 31, 2011, to July 31, 2016.

“He is the first city manager in the history of Hesperia to make it five years,” said Mayor Thurston “Smitty” Smith. “We have the best city manager in the High Desert.”

Currently, Podegracz’s base salary is $202,350 a year. In 2009, Podegracz was making $207,000. A Cost of Living Increase would have put his salary at $213,000, but his pay was reduced nearly $5,000 when all city management not represented by a union received a 5 percent decrease, according city spokeswoman Kelly Malloy.

The reduction in pay speaks volumes, according to Smith.

“He didn’t ask for a raise,” Smith said. “For me it’s been a pleasure working for him on the council. He’s just a good, decent, honest man. He’s a good manager, Everyone that I can tell is very pleased to work for him. He even took a five percent pay decrease.”

A city survey of other city manager salaries showed that Podegracz’s salary is reasonable, according to Smith.

“He’s right in the middle of it. Some might be getting $185,000, and a lot are $250,000-plus. Jon Roberts [the city of Victorville’s former city manager] was making around $300,000.

For more about Podegracz, see the full story in Thursday's Daily Press. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.