Gookin’s proposal gets nada

COEUR d’ALENE - One councilman’s proposal to have the City Council sign off on merit increases for department heads didn’t get out of committee Monday.

The city’s legal department said Monday during the Public Works subcommittee meeting that giving the City Council the ability to vote on individual merit pay increases for department heads would go beyond the body’s power.

Instead, it’s the mayor who is charged with administrative and staff review, not the city council, which, rather, has the oversight of the budget, deputy city attorney Warren Wilson said.

Crossing the two would create a separation of powers problem, he said.

“That’s my first blush at what the code seems to be speaking to,” Wilson said.

Councilman Dan Gookin’s proposal would have added the City Council as one of the review board before a department head were to receive a merit increase. Full story. Tom Hasslinger, Cda Press

Do you think the City Council should be able to weigh in on merit raises?