Everett Salary Commission

Everett Salary Commission Meeting February 21, 2019 Mayor’s Conference Room The meeting and Public Hearing commenced at 4 p.m. Those present: Commission Members: Chris Adams Tony Anthonissen Kevin Sylvester Vickie Norris Abbi Gish Members excused: Bobby Thompson Angie Sievers City staff: Bob Bolerjack, Executive Director Christina Wiersma, City Attorney’s Office Elizabeth Smith, Administration Michael Duerr, Human Resources Meeting convened at 4:00 pm February 14, 2019 Minutes Chris Adams called for a motion to approve the February 14, 2019 minutes. Vickie Norris so moved, Abbi Gish seconded. The motion carried. Chris Adams called for a motion to open the Public Hearing. Abbi Gish so moved, Tony Anthonissen seconded. The motion carried. Salary Information and Discussion Michael Duerr distributed tables of historical data for City employee and elected official’s salaries and said that, in the case of groups covered by labor agreements, cost of living adjustments were part of larger negotiated packages. He also stated that the COLAs found in 2016 and 2017 reflected increases in part designed to catch up from the recession, when increases were zero. Bob Bolerjack explained that the City has a Strong Mayor Government, as opposed to a City Manager Government, which is reflected in the broad range of salaries when comparing cities. The Commissioners received the Executive Summary of the Berk Study to review in order to see benchmarks with similar cities in Washington. Considerable discussion ensued regarding COLA, CPI, the City’s Charter-defined job duties and relationship to salaries, the importance of attracting high quality candidates to run for office and if a person’s ability to raise money for a campaign limits the candidate pool. All agreed that ultimately, the goal is to attract the highest quality of people to run for election. It was mentioned that salaries should be based on realistic standards in order to be competitive. It was also mentioned that the duty of the Salary Commission is narrow; it is to look at the salaries compared to the duties of the job. Further discussion included gaining a better understanding of how much time elected officials spend outside of Council meetings; whether health benefits, travel, and miscellaneous expenses should be included when looking at compensation; if the Charter should expand on job descriptions for elected officials; and what the salaries and job descriptions are of the Executive Directors. Chris Adams summarized needed follow up, which included:  Invite the Mayor to a meeting to answer questions about the organization chart and what she delegates to the Deputy Mayor, Chief of Staff and Executive Directors  Invite a City Council Member to discuss job duties  Salaries of Executive Directors  Expenses of elected officials Chris Adams noted that no one attended the Public Hearing and moved to close the Public Hearing. Abbi Gish seconded. The motion passed. Next meeting is March 11, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. in the Mayor’s Conference Room, 2930 Wetmore. Meeting Adjourned at 5:00 p.m.