Pay Raises Granted For Three State Positions Secretary Of State, All Judges, Attorney General Get A Boost

A citizens panel on Saturday finished setting the salaries for elected state officials by granting pay raises for the secretary of state, the attorney general and all judges.

The action by the 16-member Citizens Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials followed a decision earlier this month to freeze the salaries of the governor, legislators and other top state officials.

However, the commission’s work is not done.

The panel had planned to submit its decision to the secretary of state upon completion, but a Thurston County judge on Friday ordered it to hold four more public hearings. Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Robert Doran said the commission’s previous public hearings held earlier this year to gauge general public opinion didn’t provide for comment on the final product.

Since the commission has probably spent its entire $68,000 annual budget - Saturday’s meeting was supposed to be the commission’s last - Chairwoman Debra Jo Buffelen of Olympia said they may have to ask the governor’s office for some emergency funding to cover costs.

She scheduled the four extra hearings over a two-day period so the commission can finish its work by its June 2 deadline. The commission will hold hearings at 2 and 6 p.m. on May 27 at the Legislature, followed by two more at the same times the next day in Spokane.

Several commission members complained that the extra hearings will waste time and money since the panel as no intention of revisiting its decisions.

“It makes public meetings moot, since we won’t change anything after we’re done,” said Gene Alberts of Indianola.

Beverly Myers of Spokane expressed concern that people will get the impression the commission didn’t listen to them.

The commission’s meeting Saturday followed a similar pattern established during a meeting in Seattle earlier this month when it decided not to give any pay increases to the governor, legislators and a slate of statewide elected officials.

Like the earlier meeting, commission members tossed numbers back and forth in an effort to compromise among people who wanted to cut salaries, maintain current levels or grant various increases.

Saturday’s debate involved:

The secretary of state. The current salary of $64,300 is the second-lowest among statewide elected officials, ahead of only the lieutenant governor. Proposals ranged from maintaining the current salary to boosting it to $84,100. The panel compromised at $69,000.

The attorney general. Ideas ranged from keeping the current salary of $92,000 to matching the $109,880 Supreme Court justices make. A $1,000 raise was approved.

All four categories of judges - District Court, Superior Court, Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. Proposals ranged from a raise of 3 percent a year for two years to a flat increase of $500, an offer described as approaching “slap-in-the-face territory” by Commissioner James Staples of Olympia.

Concerned about the lure of lucrative private practices, the panel decided on a 2 percent increase as a gesture of appreciation to the judiciary. With judicial pay ranging from $94,198 to $109,880, the raises will average about $2,000.