Do Vancouver’s mayor and city council deserve a hefty pay raise?
Mayor Tim Leavitt thinks so, along with at least one member of the city Salary Review Commission, which must set the mayor and council’s 2017-2018 salaries by May 1.
In early 2014, the five-member salary review commission hiked Leavitt’s monthly pay for 2015-2016 from $2,200 to $2,300, which amounts to $27,600 a year. The other councilors were given a bump from $1,781 a month to $1,800, which is $21,600 a year. The mayor pro tem earns $2,000 a month.
Leavitt says being mayor of the fourth-largest city in Washington and the second-largest city in the Portland metro area has been a seven-day-a-week gig that warrants a $100,000 annual salary.
“The demands and obligations as mayor are full time and beyond,” said Leavitt, who has served on the city council since 2003 and has been mayor since 2009.