Memo: Vancouver council limited on salaries

The latest reading of the Vancouver city charter may limit city councilors’ options when it comes to redoing their salaries.

An initial opinion from the city attorney’s office gave the city council the option to refer pay raises granted by the Salary Review Commission directly to voters. But a new memo from City Attorney Bronson Potter to City Manager Eric Holmes says that won’t work.

Instead, opponents of the pay raises will have to collect the signatures of 2,776 registered voters who live within Vancouver city limits and submit them to the city clerk by May 20. Volunteers say they plan to be at the Vancouver Farmers Market today to collect signatures.

Here’s the background: Under the city charter, the five appointed members of the salary review commission have the exclusive authority to set the pay for Vancouver’s mayor, mayor pro tempore and the rest of the city council. On April 20, the commission voted to increase the mayor’s salary by 117 percent to $60,000 per year, the mayor pro tem’s salary by 56 percent, to $37,500, and the rest of the council by 50 percent, to $32,496. In Vancouver, the day-to-day operations are run by Holmes; the part-time mayor and council set policy and represent the city at various functions and government panels.

The salary increases drew considerable criticism, and opponents have launched a petition drive to refer the salary commission’s decision to voters. The drive is led by two former Vancouver mayors, Bruce Hagensen and Royce Pollard.

If the petitioners are successful, this would be the first time a pay ordinance was referred to voters since the Salary Review Commission was established in 1994.

According to Potter’s memo, after the petitions are submitted, the city has 10 days to examine and authenticate them. If enough signatures are valid, the city council would be left with two choices: repeal the pay ordinance, or place it on the next municipal or general election ballot, which in this case would be Nov. 8.

Potter estimates adding the salary ordinance to the November ballot would cost the city between $20,000 and $30,000.

Should the council reject the ordinance or voters repeal it, the matter of setting the mayor’s and councilors’ salaries for 2017-18 would go back to the Salary Review Commission, which would have to hold at least two public hearings before coming up with a new plan.