QuickTake:

Jenny Haruyama is set to start April 15 under a contract that would pay her $306,000 annually. The City Council is expected to approve the agreement on Monday.

Eugene’s new city manager will begin her job in two months and will earn thousands more in salary than her predecessor, pending the finalization of her contract.

Jenny Haruyama’s first day as Eugene city manager will be April 15, per the contract, which was made available on the city’s website on Friday. The former Beaverton city manager will receive an annual base salary of $306,000, according to the agreement.

The contract isn’t final until Haruyama and council President Lyndsie Leech sign it, and city councilors approve it. The council is expected to vote to OK the contract at its Monday, Feb. 9, meeting.

Haruyama’s base salary is about $13,000 more than former city manager Sarah Medary’s salary of $293,000, and about $34,000 more than Haruyama’s previous salary in Beaverton. When Jon Ruiz, the city manager that came before Medary, retired, he was earning a salary of $241,000.

Haruyama will almost certainly be the city’s highest-paid employee. Her salary is near the top of the range offered for the city manager position, which was $238,077 to $319,218. 

Haruyama will receive cost of living pay increases annually; any other increases to Haruyama’s base salary will be based on merit and subject to City Council approval, per the contract.

She will also receive monthly allowances of $500 for transportation and $70 for a smartphone. The contract includes a deferred compensation benefit of $19,000 per year, and a moving expense reimbursement of up to $10,000 within 30 days of beginning her job with Eugene.

The City Council selected Haruyama over two other finalists to become Eugene’s next city manager on Jan. 15, following a national search. Leech and council Vice President Eliza Kashinsky negotiated the terms of the incoming city manager’s contract.

She had been Beaverton’s city manager for four years, overseeing 632 full-time City Hall employees and a $500 million annual budget. As Eugene’s city manager, she will manage more than 1,500 city employees and a $1.9 billion two-year budget.

The median household income in Beaverton was about $94,279 in 2023, compared to Eugene’s $63,836. It has about 100,000 residents compared to Eugene’s more than 175,000.

Grace Chinowsky graduated from The George Washington University with a degree in journalism. She served as editor-in-chief of the university’s independent student newspaper, The GW Hatchet, and interned at CNN and MSNBC. Grace covers Eugene’s city government and the University of Oregon.