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HomeMy WebLinkAbout061605 MINUTES Citizens’ Commission on Council Salaries Tel 360-473-5926 Fax 360-473-2333 239 4th Street Bremerton, WA 98337 MINUTES 06/16/05 Public Hearing PRESENT: Chair Jim Reed, Dena Swisher, Douglas Wakefield, City Attorney-Roger Lubovich, HR Analyst-Charlotte Belmore Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:04 PM. Approval of Minutes: M/S/C/U (Swisher/Reed) Roger Lubovich explained that this was the second hearing on the proposed salary schedule, which would increase the Council Member’s salaries by $500.00 a month and the Council President’s by an additional $200.00. He also explained that this was the first hearing on the proposed salary schedule that would give the Council Members and the Council Presidents 2.5% cost of living increase (COLA). Open for Public Input: Robert Debusschere stated that he did not feel the increase was appropriate. He stated that for the last three years the quality of life in his neighborhood has deteriorated. People in his neighborhood have tried in vane to get Council Member Gehring to take an active interest in the deterioration of his neighborhood and that he did not feel that he deserved a pay increase. Jim Reed explained that Council Member Gehring has no authority to call the Police Department and tell them how or what to do. Mr. Gehring’s job as a Council Member is legislative, he represents his district on legislative and/or budgetary issues. He directed Mr. Debusschere to the Mayor’s Office. Helen Miller asked how the City of Bremerton’s median income figured into the formula used to come up with proposed increase. Jim Reed explained that the Commission used a loose formula based on a survey the Council Members completed which asked how many hours they spend on Council business each month. Helen Miller stated that the Commission had no proof that the number of hours the Council Members put down were correct. She felt that the second proposal that would increase the salaries by 2.5% made more sense.  Page 2 Carlos Montgomery stated that he felt the whole process of giving Council Members a pay raise was ridiculous. He stated that if the Council Members need a pay raise that they were in the wrong business. He felt that the money would be better spent if the Street Department used it to fix some of the potholes in the streets. He felt that a good Council Member is not interested in the pay; they are interested in doing a good job. Michele Knauss stated that it was her understanding that the Commission was responsible for reviewing the duties of the City Council and fixing their pay. She stated that she had reviewed the minutes of the previous meetings and that there had been a lot of discussion about attracting qualified people to run for City Council. She felt that this was an issue of paying people for doing their civic duties. She stated that the Council’s staff members are getting paid good money to provide them with the information they need to make informed decisions and that the Council staff should receive the additional money. She felt that if the Council were to receive an increase it should be the proposed 2.5% COLA. Del Knauss requested that Mr. Reed pull his proposal and support the 2.5% increase. He suggested that a survey asking for input from the citizens should be sent out along with the water bills. He suggested the survey include questions on how the citizens feel about the representation they receive from their Council Member and what they feel the pay should be. He submitted for the record 252 signatures asking that the Commission not support the 67% increase. The signatures were in support of the 2.5% increase. E. L. Sturdivant stated that there are many qualified and intelligent citizens who serve on boards without being paid such as Harrison Hospital and school boards. He felt that the Commission had not considered that these volunteers are also contributing to the welfare of their community. He stated that he could not believe what the Commission was trying to do. Tiny Collins, who had served on City Council in the past, said that he felt it was his responsibility to serve as a Council Member. When he ran for Council he didn’t know that he was going to be paid until he received his first check. He felt that it would be wrong for the Council Members to be paid so much money. He felt that the Council Members should establish their own pay, because they are responsible to the citizens. He said, “Go ahead with the 2.5%, but don’t go anymore than that.” Roy Runyon stated that he supports the 2.5% pay increase. He felt that adopting the 67% increase would be inappropriate and send a message to the citizens that the Council is special and disconnected from the people. He felt that what they had been hearing was dissatisfaction with the Council Member’s performance. He explained that there are a couple ways citizens hold Council Members accountable they don’t reelect them and their pay. He stated that you don’t give an employee who isn’t doing their job a pay increase. He suggested paying Council Members a base salary and an additional amount for each meeting they attend. He suggested educating prospective Council Members on the amount of time and the effort necessary to do the job effectively. He stated that the City needs to find candidates with a passion to do the job.  Page 3 th Paul Drnjevic stated that he had sent the letter he had given the Commission, at the June 6 Public Hearing, to the news paper. The news paper had taken out the part about the hours because Mr. Drnjevic could not verify them. He talked about the letter that Daren Nygren sent in response to his letter. He felt that that had Daren used double talk when he wrote that there was no budget short fall. He stated that Daren implied there was no tax increase. He disagreed with the Council Member who stated that they spend an average of 186 hours a month on Council business. He felt the hours should be verified. He mentioned that school board members and Harrison Hospital board members do not get paid. He explained that he had asked 56 people to sign the list of signatures that was submitted by Del Knauss two of them were in favor of the Council receiving the 67% increase, four did not know, and the remaining fifty disagreed with the increase. He felt that most of the time Council Members ignore what the people say and that they do not want to hear from the citizens. He stated that he would support the 2.5% increase. Ellie and Lon Overson submitted a letter for the record stating that the majority of the citizens do not support the 67% increase, but feel a 2.5% increase would be more appropriate. Hank Waibel also submitted a letter for the record opposing the proposed pay increase. Discussion on Council Salaries: Jim Reed stated that he appreciated everyone’s comments and that he didn’t disagree with them. He stated that a 2.5% annual increase would be appropriate, if the base salary was appropriate for the amount of time Council Members spend on Council business. He agreed that the requirements of the Council and the details of what they do may have changed a little. He explained that Council Members have a pretty rigorous job to perform; “It’s not a spare time operation.” He didn’t feel the existing salary reflects the amount of time that it takes to do an effective job. He said, “What I see is nine individuals doing their job, doing it very well, and spending a lot of time doing it.” He stated that it is easy to sit back and imply that the Council Members are not heavily worked or committing a lot of time and energy. He said that anyone could run for office and deny the increase. Dena Swisher stated that this was a very important issue and that a lot of what she had been hearing was good information and would be used in making her decision. She stated that they had talked about compensation versus civic duty or volunteering. She felt that it was very commendable that people such as Del had volunteered for years. She explained that she was on a board of directors for a non-profit and that her responsibilities were nothing compared to the City Council’s. She felt that they should not be comparing the responsibilities of the Harrison Hospital Board, or other volunteer boards unless they knew exactly what the responsibilities of those boards were. She stated that she was offended that some of the people thought that the City Council Members would lie about the hours they spend on Council business. She felt that it was hard to know exactly how many hours they spend on Council business. She felt it was difficult to determine what was civic duty versus being paid. She felt that Council Members should be compensated for the time they have to take off from their fulltime jobs to attend Council meetings.  Page 4 Jim Reed made a motion to pass the draft salary schedule that would increase the Council Member’s salaries to $1,250.00 a month and the Council President’s to $250.00 per month. There was no second; therefore, the proposal did not pass. Douglas Wakefield reiterated his proposal of a 2.5% cost of living increase and moved that they schedule a second hearing on this proposal. Jim Reed made a new proposal that the Council Members receive a salary of $1,000.00 per month and the Council President receive an additional stipend of $150.00. Dena Swisher seconded the new proposal. There will be two additional meetings scheduled one on June 29, 2005 and the second on June 30, 2005. Meeting Adjourned: 7:38 PM Jim Reed, Chair Person