TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Quinn Barrow, City Attorney
Lisa Jenkins, Human Resources Director
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of a Resolution Approving Amendment No. 1 to an Employment Agreement (City Attorney Quinn Barrow and Human Resources Director Jenkins).
(Estimated Time: 15 min.)
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 26-0035
Body
_________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 26-0035 approving Amendment No. 1 to the employment agreement between the City of Manhattan Beach (“City”) and Talyn Mirzakhanian.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The employment agreement amendment is estimated to result in a net cost increase of $26,638 for the first year of the amendment and $14,466 for the second year of the amendment.
BACKGROUND:
Talyn Mirzakhanian was appointed to City Manager effective November 6, 2024, after serving in that capacity on an acting basis for three months prior. The terms and conditions of her employment are outlined in an employment agreement with the City, which was originally approved by the City Council on November 5, 2024. As a result of conducting a series of closed sessions to evaluate the City Manager’s performance, the City Council gave direction to the City Attorney on April 21, 2026, to place on the City Council agenda an amendment to the employment agreement between the City and Ms. Mirzakhanian.
DISCUSSION:
At the time the City Manager was initially appointed in November 2024, the Council approved an employment agreement, outlining key terms and conditions of employment, that included the following key salary and benefit provisions:
• Annual salary of $285,000
• Annual city contribution to deferred compensation (401a) of 6% of base salary
• All other benefits and terms of employment governed by the then-current Compensation Plan for Full-Time Unrepresented Employees <https://www.manhattanbeach.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/54541/638507647720770000>.
The Proposed Amendment Terms
Two Year Term
Currently, the City Manager’s Employment Agreement is an “evergreen” contract that automatically renews every January 1 unless the City provides four months prior notice of cancellation. The proposed Amendment provides a two-year term, commencing on May 6, 2026, which can be subsequently extended by a future amendment.
Proposed Annual Salary: $306,375
In recognition of her exemplary performance over her first 18 months as City Manager, and the impact of the cost-of-living factors that supported the increases authorized for all other non-sworn full-time unrepresented employees, the proposed Amendment, if approved, will provide the City Manager an annual salary of $306,375, a 7.5% increase. The Council also considered market survey data to ascertain the City Manager salaries in other cities. The increase would be effective the pay period following City Council approval of the amendment (May 16, 2026) for the first year of the Amendment.
4% Cost of Living Increase for the Second Year of the Amendment
In 2025, the Council approved a 5% increase (effective July 2025); 4.5% increase (effective July 2026), and a 4% increase (effective July 2027) for Full-time Unrepresented Employees, which includes Department Heads. As background, following the 2025 labor negotiations with a majority of full-time City employees, the Council also authorized changes to the terms and conditions of the Unrepresented Employees. The three-year compensation plan, ultimately approved on October 7, 2025, included cost of living adjustments in each year of the plan that mirrored those provided to the represented employees (the aforementioned 5% increase in July 2025, 4.5% increase effective July 2026, and a 4% increase July 2027). The Amendment, if approved, would provide the City Manager with the same 4% cost of living adjustment in the second year of the Amendment (effective May 1, 2027) that the Unrepresented Employees will receive in 2027. The Amendment, if approved by the Council, would increase the City Manager’s annual salary by 4%, to $318,630, effective May 2027.
2.5% Deferred Compensation Increase from 6% to 8.5%
The approved City contribution to deferred compensation for the City Manager of 6% was 1.5% above the deferred compensation contribution being provided to non-sworn executives (department heads) at the time, and all other benefits besides salary and deferred compensation contribution were approved to be the same as those of the non-sworn department heads. These benefits included a then-contribution of 2% to a Retiree Health Savings (RHS) plan.
Previously, the 2% City contribution to the RHS plan for executive management employees was reallocated to the 401(a) deferred contribution plan. Further, a flat $75/month contribution to an RHS plan and an additional .5% contribution to the 401(a) plan were approved for all full-time unrepresented employees, which included non-sworn department heads. These changes addressed changes in the tax consequences and obligations for future distributions from the RHS plan.
As the City Manager’s deferred compensation contribution was established as a fixed amount, and all other employment benefits were tied to the unrepresented non-sworn department heads, the changes made to the unrepresented full-time employees were not provided to the City Manager. Specifically, following the change made for non-sworn department heads in October 2025, the City Manager no longer received the 2% RHS contribution, and also did not receive the amount reallocated to 401(a), nor the additional .5% increase approved for all unrepresented employees. Because the RHS plan changed to $75 per month for executives, and the City Manager’s RHS was tied to unrepresented employees, her compensation for the RHS was effectively reduced from a 2% contribution ($5,700 annually) to a fixed $75 per month contribution ($900 annually), resulting in her receiving approximately $4,800 less annually than the total compensation contemplated in her initial agreement. Had Ms. Mirzakhanian’s contract instead fixed the 401(a) contribution as a percentage above the contribution for non-sworn department heads, she would have been receiving the additional 2.5% contribution to the 401(a) effective October 2025, which would have offset the reduction in the RHS plan. In recognition of this discrepancy, the amendment to her agreement includes a 2.5% increase in deferred compensation, on a prospective basis. This results in an 8.5% total contribution to the 401(a) deferred compensation account.
Evaluations
The assistance of a third-party facilitator for future evaluations often will aid in a productive and smooth process. Accordingly, the amendment includes a provision for facilitated evaluations.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has approved the amendment as to form.
Staff is recommending that the Council adopt the attached Resolution, approving Amendment No. 1 to the employment agreement between the City and Ms. Mirzakhanian, effective May 6, 2026.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 26-0035
2. Amendment No. 1 - Employment Agreement
3. Employment Agreement