Once he’s city attorney, Andrew Janz will probably get a big raise. Here’s an estimate

When Andrew Janz begins work as Fresno’s new city attorney, he likely will get a big pay raise.

Janz likely will earn more than Fresno County Counsel Daniel Cederborg and Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp, his current boss.

The Fresno City Council announced late Tuesday they selected Janz as the new city attorney. Unlike many of the department heads in the city’s organizational structure, the city attorney reports to the city council rather than to the mayor’s office. An interim city attorney has led the city attorney’s office since June when ex-city attorney Doug Sloan resigned and took another job.

The Fresno City Attorney manages an office of more than 150 employees, including over two dozen attorneys, two dozen or so legal aids and about 100 code enforcement employees.

Janz has worked as a prosecutor in Smittcamp’s office since 2014, trying some of the county’s most violent crimes. Janz also is well known for his involvement in local politics. He previously ran for Congress and Fresno mayor. While he lost both races, he showed a knack for fundraising and eventually started a political action committee called Voter Protection Project.

The city council will begin negotiating the terms of Janz’s contract during a special closed-session meeting on Thursday. The contract will go to an open-session vote during the first regular meeting in December.

Janz currently earns about $138,000 as a base salary working as a deputy district attorney. Smittcamp earns about $194,000, and Cederborg takes home over $240,000, officials confirmed.

The current interim and former Fresno city attorneys make much more than that. Interim City Attorney Rina Gonzalez currently earns $227,000, according to her contract.

Sloan, in 2020, was the city’s second highest-paid person, at almost $293,000, including benefits. Before leaving his Fresno job, Sloan was taking home a base salary of around $266, 000.

Under a recently-adjusted pay scale, Janz could potentially earn more than that.

When the City Council began advertising for the job, they updated the pay scale for the city attorney position, meaning Janz could make anywhere from $207,000-$287,0000.