Olympia City Councilmember Dani Madrone requested the Community Livability and Public Safety Committee to review the city's code on Independent Salary Commission to update the ordinance within the equity framework.
At the city council meeting on Tuesday, July 11, Madrone noted that the Salary Commission ordinance (OMC Chapter 2.05) was created a few years ago, adding that the Salary Commission and the process that guides their work should be updated to reflect the city's values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
Madrone asked the CLPS, chaired by Councilmember Yen Huynh, to reassess the ordinance, look at processes for recruitment, and evaluate any barriers to community participation and the challenges with the process.
The Salary Commission was created in 2017. Its role is to determine the salaries of council members and city staff. A total of five Salary commissioners are appointed to two-year terms.
Madrone hoped the review and update would be completed before the Salary Commission convenes in 2024.
The Madrone asked the CLPS to examine a particular issue wherein the salary commission, which usually meets in June or July, has provided a cost-of-living adjustment, but the implementation was delayed for eight months. She suggested changing the process to streamline the evaluation and salary adjustment process.
"I am trusting that the CLPS committee, with some support from staff, will look at how salary commission has evolved over the past years," Madrone said. "We have this in place for a few years now. What can we do better to calibrate it?
“How are things evolving in other cities,” Madrone added, “and also how are things evolving within our own?"
Mayor Cheryl Selby expressed concern about getting too involved in the salary commission's work, believing that the commission should remain independent and the commission itself should discuss its work.
Huynh said she anticipates incorporating the referral request in the CLPS committee's work plan this year.
Also, last Tuesday, the city council approved the appointment of five individuals who would sit on the Salary Commission:
The appointment is for two-year terms and is made in odd-numbered years.
The OMC Chapter 2.05 stated that the independent salary commission shall consist of five members appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council.
"I have gone out every other year with the idea that I look for representation from different parts of town, from different segments of our employment sectors, and a former councilmember because we need to have somebody that has been here before that understands the work that goes into this job," Selby said.
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