Everett Salary Commission

Everett Salary Commission Meeting March 11, 2019 Mayor’s Conference Room Those present: Commission Members: Chris Adams Tony Anthonissen Kevin Sylvester Vickie Norris Abbi Gish Angie Sievers Bobby Thompson City staff: Bob Bolerjack, Executive Director Elizabeth Smith, Administration Michael Duerr, Human Resources Guests: Mayor Cassie Franklin Council President Scott Bader Finance Director Susy Haugen Chief of Staff Lyle Ryan Meeting convened at 5:07 pm February 14, 2019 Minutes Kevin Sylvester called for a motion to approve the February 14, 2019 minutes. Vickie Norris so moved, Chris Adams seconded. The motion carried. Discussion/Questions/Comments by Elected Officials Council President Scott Bader addressed the group and explained that Council Members work beyond attending Council meetings. Preparing for the meetings requires reading the materials and follow up with City staff with any questions for clarification. Each Council Member is assigned to a Council sub-committee and acts as liaisons to Neighborhood groups and City Boards and Commissions. Council members also represent the City with several organizations including Economic Alliance Snohomish County, Snohomish County, Sound Transit, and more. Council Members also serve liaison roles with Neighborhood Associations and City Boards and Commissions, and attend Community events as speakers and representatives of the City. The responsibilities of Council President include attending additional meetings with the Mayor and City staff, supervising the Executive Administrator, developing the weekly Council agenda and running the Council meetings as well as filling in for the Mayor at events and meetings. Q: Can Council Members travel outside of the City on City business? A: President Bader said yes and gave examples of the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) annual meeting and National League of Cities meetings but said budget constraints are balanced with the responsibilities. Q: Do you respond to constituent feedback by email or do you meet one on one? A: Mostly email (daily), meets one on one 1-2 times a month. Q: What does it cost to run a campaign? A: President Bader answered it can cost $30,000-$40,000. He said it is a lot of work to connect with citizens and raise donations to run a campaign. Mayor Franklin described the scope of her responsibilities. She said her job is a 24/7 job and she sees herself as the CEO of the City. The first thing she did as Mayor was restructure the City to a more corporate structure. The previous administration delegated to the Chief Administrative Assistant; she has the Deputy Mayor and Chief of Staff to help. She works a minimum of 50 hours and 6-7 days a week. She is available 24 hours a day to both the Fire Chief and Chief of Police. When asked how she responds to the high volume of emails and requests by community members to meet with her, she answered by saying when appropriate, she delegates the requests to staff who are better equipped to respond to the issue. The Mayor believes in transparency and collaboration with City Council and meets with each Council Member monthly, and meets with the Council President and Vice President weekly. Everett is the urban center for Snohomish County; therefore, she is active in many local, regional, state and federal organizations. When asked to describe an average day, she said there really is not one. A day can include as many things as reading to schoolchildren, speaking to 2,000 people, negotiating union contracts, meetings with staff, civic leaders, community members, and regional organizations. The position requires many hours; Everett is a big City with several services, which are not provided in many other cities such as a fire department, libraries, transit and regional utilities, and requires the Mayor to have a depth of understanding of the services and scope of work required. City Financial Update Susy Haugen, Finance Director, spoke about the Structural Deficit. She explained that there was a $13.3 million deficit to close for 2019, and that over the forecast period, expenses are estimated to grow at an average 3.6% a year, and revenues growing by 1.7% a year. The City’s structural deficit is due largely due to the impacts of Initiative 747, which limits property tax increases to 1% a year. She said property taxes comprise approximately 40 percent of City revenue. She gave examples of steps the City has taken to close the gap, which include: reducing general staff positions, reducing funding for the library during the Evergreen Library Branch closure for construction, eliminating the general fund’s contribution to street overlay for one year, and reducing outside legal counsel. Also included are small M&O changes, such as reducing memberships and subscriptions. She said progress has been made in 2019, but there is much left to do. The City will be looking at alternative funding and service delivery model options for some of the larger departments, such as Fire, Parks, Library, and Transit. Q: How are council and Mayors benefits decided, is it through an ordinance? A : The Mayor is a full time elected employee, and as such receives benefits . Q: Are the benefits the same whether a Council Member is full time or part time? A: In answer to the question, Bob Bolerjack provided the citation in the Everett Municipal Code that covers benefits for City Council Members. Salary Information/Discussion/Questions Mike Duerr passed out Charts for Salary and Insurance costs, and travel training budgets. Due to the time, the group agreed to table the salary discussion until the next meeting. Kevin called to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned 5:14 Next meeting: Tuesday, March 19th, at 12:00 in The Mayor’s Conference room.