Peoria City Attorney Vanessa Hickman has received a 12% raise.
The Peoria City Council approved a 5% market wage adjustment, 3% cost of living adjustment and a 4% performance based merit increase for a new annual base salary of $225,419.
Previously her annual base salary was $201,267.
Hickman initially contracted with the city May 1, 2018.
Mayor Cathy Carlat said that Hickman performed during the pandemic dealing with unprecedented legal issues ranging from emergency declarations to testing clinics hosted by the city that had to be properly managed.
“Our city attorney has done a very good job over the course of the last year,” Carlat said.
Her review was conducted behind closed doors in a private executive session, April 19.
Hickman’s contract was approved 5-1, May, 3, with Councilmember Brad Shafer recusing himself because he recently took his seat and was not present during Hickman’s review.
Councilmember Denette Dunn voted against the contract.
“I strongly oppose the employment agreement with the city attorney,” she said.
Officials said the employment agreement now more closely aligns Hickman’s wages with peer counterparts across the Valley.
The average base salary for a city attorney among 10 other Valley municipalities is $223,626, according to research conducted by Peoria officials. The base salary for the Glendale city attorney is $225,000, according to the research.
The city attorney is one of three officers whose functions and duties are specifically designated by the Peoria city charter.
Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman.
Meet Philip Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.
Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater.
Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.
Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.
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