Salary panel listens to concerns

Former Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard told salary commission members charged with setting the mayor’s pay that he was tired of attending their meetings.

“And I’m sure you’re sick of seeing me here,” Pollard said at the commission’s meeting Wednesday night.

The Vancouver Salary Review Commission is in the midst of trying to set the wages for the mayor and city councilors after their initial proposal to more than double the mayor’s pay and increase councilors’ salaries was rejected.

There were about 20 people in the audience. At times, the meeting was testy.

Don Orange, a Vancouver business owner, told the commission that the word on the street was there were some “back-room deals” taking place.

“People’s faith in our government slips dramatically when someone is appointed and doubles (salary) for the people who appointed them,” Orange said.

The five-person volunteer salary review commission is appointed by the mayor.

Commissioner MarCine Miles pointed out that the commission had met seven times in public before approving the pay raises and assured him no deals were being made behind closed doors.

Orange fired back, “Try to convince people on the street what you’re doing with their money is right.”

At times, the handful of people who testified veered into the personal.

Pollard told the commissioners some people are starting to think that they are “infatuated” with some of the city officials.

In April, the salary commission voted 3-2 to increase the mayor’s pay for 2017-19 by 117 percent. The pay hike would have increased the mayor’s monthly salary from $2,300 ($27,600 annually) to $5,000 per month (or $60,000 annually) beginning in January.

The current monthly salary for the mayor pro tem, a city councilor who acts as mayor in the mayor’s absence, would have gone from $2,000 per month (or $24,000 annually) to $3,125 (or $37,500 annually), a 56.25 percent increase. The rest of the city councilors, who currently earn $1,800 monthly ($21,600 annually), would have seen their pay jump to $2,708 per month ($32,496 annually) or a 50.4 percent increase.

Pollard was instrumental in gathering enough signatures to repeal the salary hikes. The Vancouver City Council also voted to reject them, sending the decision back to the salary review commission.

Testifying Wednesday, Nancy Schultz urged the commission to act swiftly and approve much lower pay hikes, adding that the issue has become a distraction, and there are more important things the city needs to address. Schultz said that the nation’s largest crude-by-rail terminal has been proposed for the Port of Vancouver, and the city is facing a lack of affordable housing.

Noting that some of the commission members are younger, Schultz said that with age she’s learned to “say I was wrong” and asked the commission to admit their mistake and give the city’s elected officials a cost-of-living adjustment — and nothing more.

Commissioner Magan Reed responded by saying that although she’s young, there was no ego or pride in her initial decision to increase salaries.

“I’m not too proud to say it didn’t work. … I’m not interested in pushing that amount this time around,” she said, adding that her primary goal in approving the pay raises was to remove the financial barrier so anyone interested could serve in office, not just the independently wealthy or retired individuals with a pension.

Commissioner Thomas Hackett, who championed the pay raises, suggested the idea of paying the mayor and city councilors hourly, based on the time they work and the number of meetings they attend.

Someone in the predominantly older crowd gasped, “Oh God,” and there was a low level of rumbling at the idea.

Overall, the commission members were divided between those who felt a bigger salary was necessary to attract a diverse pool of qualified candidates and those who pointed out it’s a public service position, not a full-time job, and should come with a small paycheck.

If the salary commission is unable to come to a decision, the city councilors’ pay would stay the same through the end of 2017.