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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Raises unlikely for state leaders

Citizens group votes to freeze pay for Washington’s elected officials

Richard Roesler Staff writer

OLYMPIA – No raises for anybody.

That was the verdict Wednesday from a Washington citizens group that decides how much taxpayers pay the governor, judges and other elected officials. The group voted unanimously to freeze salaries at their 2008 levels for the next two years. A final decision is due in May.

“It’s always nice, giving a raise,” said member Tom Huff, a former lawmaker. “But now is not the time, I think.”

A second proposal, to give judges a 2 percent increase next year, narrowly failed. Several members said the state should try to boost judicial pay over the long term, but “this is not a normal time,” Spokane member Joy Yake said.

Over the past two days, the Washington Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials heard from numerous state officials. Nearly all said they didn’t want a raise.

“It would be awkward and inappropriate,” Attorney General Rob McKenna said, to collect a bigger paycheck while state budget writers are mulling a two-year freeze on cost-of-living increases for state workers and teachers. Lt. Gov. Brad Owen echoed that, calling the economic situation “dismal.”

“I think we want people who are more dedicated to the cause than the paycheck,” said state Rep. Kevin Parker, R-Spokane, who owns a chain of coffee shops. The $42,106 salary for state lawmakers, he said, is about the same as the state’s median income.

One exception to the chorus was newly elected state schools Superintendent Randy Dorn. Although Dorn didn’t explicitly ask for an increase, he noted that his $121,000-a-year salary was $25,000 less than he earned at his previous job as head of a union representing school support staffers.

Dorn said he knew that when he ran. But he said the pay will make it hard to attract top school administrators to run for the office. He said 121 of Washington’s local schools superintendents earn more than he does as the state’s top school official. Of those, he said, 22 earn more than $200,000 a year.

“How do you get quality people into the position?” he asked the commission. “I think you’re going to have to make it more attractive than it is.”

Dorn, who’s hiring staffers now, said it’s a challenge to find top-tier people willing to work for state pay. Matching the $112,000 salary of a principal at a medium-size high school, he said, meant eliminating a couple of other state jobs.

“That’s my marketplace,” he said.

One member asked Dorn how it would look to increase leaders’ salaries while those of teachers are frozen.

“I believe just about everybody in public service is underpaid,” he responded. “They’re making a sacrifice in their lives to make a difference in other people’s lives.”

Legislative leaders have long complained that the $42,000 salary discourages young people with families from running for legislative seats. Many lawmakers are retirees, wealthy or both. In recent years, two promising young lawmakers – Spokane’s Jeff Gombosky and Colfax’s David Buri – both quickly left Statehouse positions for higher-paying jobs as lobbyists.

One commission member Wednesday pooh-poohed the calls for pay freezes as mostly political posturing.

“That serves their purposes very well in a political sense,” Brian Sadden said. “I just find it slightly tasteless.”

The biggest debate among the group was whether to boost judges’ pay. Some wanted a 2 percent increase; one member proposed 4 percent. Several people testified that federal judges, many private attorneys and even many public attorneys earn considerably more than the state pays.

“None of these guys are getting paid the way they would get paid in the private sector,” said Katherine Wade-Easley, a member who pushed hard for a slight boost in judges’ pay. It’s key to ensure that the pay is competitive, she said, to draw a diverse crop of judicial candidates.

Member Willean Denton Hornbeck also argued for “at least a modest increment” for judges to encourage the best and brightest to run. But a 2 percent increase next year failed, 6 votes to 8.

The group has hearings scheduled in Vancouver, Bellingham, Richland and Tacoma over the next several months.

Richard Roesler can be reached at (360) 664 2598 or by e-mail at richr@spokesman.com.