A video shared to X by the account @WallStreetApes shows Chula Vista, California, Mayor John McCann and Deputy Mayor Cesar Fernandez debating a proposed city charter measure that would raise council members' pay, extend their terms, and create new committees.
The user described the measure as "SO CORRUPT" in the video's caption and said it was being pushed by Democrats on the council.
Speaking in the clip, McCann said the pay increase would bring council salaries to roughly $110,000 a year- for what he called a part-time position, was "bad for the city."
He added, "You're gonna have your cronies be able to give you huge salary increases," referring to a proposed independent commission that would be empowered to approve future council raises, per the ballot measure.
Chula Vista is a city in San Diego, California
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) July 21, 2026
Democrat City Council leaders just made a new measure that is SO CORRUPT
- Give themselves all a $45,000 raise
- Seats would be making $110,000 per year as a part time job
- Create a commission to approve more raises for themselves… pic.twitter.com/gbg1kKNfIt
Fernandez, defending the broader package, said in the video that the measure "would help modernize our governance structure" and argued the council role "feels like a full-time job." He asked people to "look past the big headline" and consider the rest of the proposal rather than focusing only on the pay increase.
The Chula Vista City Council voted on July 15 to advance the measure toward the November ballot, according to Voice of San Diego, which reported the initiative would have raised council salaries by 59 percent, to $110,127 a year, and extended term limits from two terms to three.
Reacting to the video, one commenter compared the strategy of bundling the pay raise with other city needs to tactics they associated with Congress writing, "I like how they tie in pay raise with other city needs and then say, look at the big picture, look what your denying the city... remind you of anyone? Congress maybe?"
Another user pushed back at Fernandez, comparing him to "the snake who convinced Eve to bite into the fruit."
Fernandez is my idea of the snake who convinced Eve to bite into the fruit, and even atheists know what the result of that was.
— RM Jackson (@RetMajJacksson) July 21, 2026
Since that vote, the pay raise portion of the measure was removed by the council. According to NBC 7 San Diego, the council voted 4-1 on July 21 to remove the salary increase after two hours of public criticism at a city council meeting, with Councilmember Michael Inzunza casting the only vote against removing it.
One commenter shared a similar incident from their workplace, recalling, "Haha I found my boss did this a couple jobs ago when the HR director was leaving. Told her to give these people raises of 20k each when money was tight and no one else got raises."
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the exact date the video was recorded relative to the July 21 vote that removed the pay raise. The details above reflect the video as shared on X, supplemented by reporting from Voice of San Diego and NBC 7 San Diego.
