Vocal Point: Elected official’s pay should be decided by public

If you work in the private sector and you want a pay raise, how do you convince your boss you deserve it? You probably remind him or her of how much work you do on the company’s behalf. You list your accomplishments, your devotion to the company, the extra effort you put in, and explain how valuable your skills are to the company. If the boss is convinced you deserve a raise, you get it.

It doesn’t work the same way with the city of Spokane Valley. It should, but it doesn’t.

The state Legislature in its finite wisdom passed a law leading to a convoluted process. Instead of our elected officials coming directly to us, their bosses, to state their case for a pay raise, they appoint a so-called Independent Salary Commission to make the plea on their behalf.

Here’s how it worked. In September, the City Council approved an ordinance, creating a five-member Independent Salary Commission. The purpose of the commission was to review and establish the salaries of the mayor and council.

By law the commission members had to begin meeting no later than Oct. 24 and were to file their recommendations with the City Clerk no later than Dec. 24.

Just think about that!

An ordinance passed one month, meetings the next month and a decision the month after. On what other occasions have you seen the political process move with such haste?

But there’s more! The commission submitted its final report on the deadline of Dec. 4. The City Clerk posted an official notice the first week of December and again in the second week of December.

What happens if the citizens want to contest the commission’s recommendation? They need to start a signature gathering process to get the issue on a ballot. They then need to get thousands of signatures, 15 percent of registered voters, in 30 days. If they secure enough signatures, then the issue will be put on the ballot.

It is an arduous task to accomplish in such a short time, which is why I think the Legislature designed it that way. The elected officials duck behind the salary commission concept, the salary commission members “carry the water” for the elected officials and the remaining citizens are left to meet the unrealistic deadlines.

In 2004, when a different salary Commission proposed a pay raise for council members, a group of citizens got more than enough signatures in the mandated time frame, and the vote went to the people. The people voted no by a significant margin.

At this point in time, I don’t know if anyone is actually going to go the signature gathering route. If they do and they get enough signatures I don’t know if the voters would say yes or no to the pay raises.

Do our council members deserve a pay raise? That is not my topic here. My concern is with the Independent Salary Commission law.

This is not meant to disparage the commissioners. They did their research and made their decision based on that information. I attended three of the meetings and offered my input. The commissioners were welcoming, gracious and considerate.

I did, however, have one concern at those meetings. The deputy city attorney led the three meetings I attended. In my opinion, the independent part of the process was compromised when a city employee was basically driving the discussion.

So what is the solution? Well, I prefer that the people we elect have a public hearing on pay, make the case for a pay raise and take the necessary action to implement it, with one caveat – the raise does not take effect until after the next election.

This is not likely to happen, but it should, in my humble opinion.