Glenwood Springs City Manager Debra Figueroa’s efforts to bring millions of dollars in various grant awards to the city has been rewarded, in part, with her third raise since joining the city in June 2016.
Figueroa confirmed this week that her new base salary will be $165,000 in 2019, after a recent performance review and contract negotiations with City Council. That amount is $10,000 more than she was earning previously.
Before arriving in Glenwood Springs, Figueroa served as the assistant borough manager in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. When she signed on with the city in 2016, she earned a base salary of $135,000.
In 2017, City Council agreed to a two-year contract extension with Figueroa through 2019, which brought her base salary at that time to $155,000 a year.
In addition to the recent $10,000 raise, Figueroa also is to receive a $20,000 bonus, according to the agreement with council.
“I just want to express my interest in thanking you for the service and leadership you have provided,” City Councilor Jonathan Godes relayed to Figueroa at the Jan. 17 council meeting.
“You have brought on excellent staff in your time here. … You have a great team, and have brought tens of millions of dollars in grants to the community, and you are worth every penny of it,” Godes said. “I just want to express my appreciation for it, and I think the rest of council, in your review, has also expressed that as well.
“I wanted to say that publicly since we have a packed house.”
To which Mayor Michael Gamba joked, “Yeah, we are not willing to say that publicly,” before following in a round of applause for Figueroa’s contributions to the city in her relative short time with Glenwood.
Last year, Gamba and Figueroa were instrumental in lobbying for and receiving several grants for the city, including a $7 million federal Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant, which will go toward fixing the rough stretch of South Midland Avenue.
Echoing Godes and Gamba, Councilor Shelley Kaup also exclaimed, “good job,” to Figueroa.
Also in addition to the raise, Figueroa will be considered for a contract extension by City Council this June, she explained.
“My largest accomplishments were working with my team and our city attorney [Karl Hanlon] to bring in around $12 million in grant funding and reducing the cost of city projects by $30 million,” Figueroa said.
When asked what she hoped to see happen in Glenwood in 2019, Figueroa replied, “The same patience from our residents and businesses as we had for the Grand Avenue Bridge detour,” referring to the massive bridge replacement project that stretched across the better part of three years from 2016 to the middle of last year.
“We will be working on multiple large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the replacement of the 27th Street Bridge and the completion of the Seventh Street Beautification Project,” Figueroa said. “These are all great projects for our city, but they will impact us all.”