North Las Vegas City Council raises pay for city manager

For Qiong Liu, the praise was better late than never.

On Wednesday, during work performance evaluation that was more than a year overdue, the North Las Vegas City Council credited Liu, the city manager, for helping to bolster the city’s financial fortunes.

The council lauded Liu for overhauling employee labor contracts to help save money and helping to attract Faraday Future’s planned $1 billion electric car factory at the Apex Industrial Complex.

The council also unanimously agreed to give Liu a $30,000 pay raise. She will now earn $220,000 annually, plus more than $146,000 in benefits.

Despite the raise, Liu makes less than her counterparts across Southern Nevada, except for Boulder City, according to a recent salary comparison completed by North Las Vegas city officials.

“Your leadership has been exemplary,” Mayor John Lee told Liu. “I’m very excited to be a partner of yours, and I just want to say it’s been a joy every day to work beside you for the residents of North Las Vegas.”

Liu requested the performance review in a letter delivered last month to the City Council, noting that she hadn’t received an evaluation since she was appointed as city manager in November 2014, when North Las Vegas was nearly taken over by the state amid a severe financial deficit.

Looking ahead, Lee tasked Liu with finding more companies to move into Apex. Lee aims to secure 100 million square feet for new commercial and industrial projects across North Las Vegas within 15 months.

“Looking back the past few years, we’ve come a long way,” Liu told the City Council on Wednesday. “Everybody on my team is very dedicated and works hard. All of the success we’ve accomplished is because of the team.”

Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Find @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.