Published: Tuesday, March 16, 2010
IN OUR VIEW / COUNTY SALARY COMMISSION
Pay cuts must be on table
Voters in Snohomish County made a wise choice in 2006 when they created an independent panel of citizens to set the pay for the county's top elected officials. They replaced a politically charged process with a straightforward, objective one.
The 2010 Citizens' Commission on Salaries of Elected Officials will gather for its first meeting Wednesday night with a clear charge: to review the duties and pay of the elected officials (county council members, executive, auditor, assessor, clerk, prosecutor, sheriff and treasurer), and fix their salaries for 2011 and 2012.
Declaring raises off the table is a no-brainer in the current budget environment, with revenues falling and the jobs of perhaps hundreds of county employees in jeopardy. If anything, commissioners should be studying whether some reduction in salaries is warranted. We'll bet county workers who took 11 furlough days last year, the rough equivalent of a 4 percent pay cut, think so.
(Pay cuts approved by the salary commission wouldn't take effect until officials' current terms expire.)*
The county revenue picture will be updated soon, and good news isn't anticipated. Indeed, forecasts for housing foreclosures are pessimistic, a sign that economic recovery will be slow. Layoffs remain a possibility for county workers, as they have been for so many others.
Current pay for the county's elected leaders is roughly in line with comparable positions in the state's most populous counties. The prosecutor and executive bring in $148,789 and $147,098, respectively. The sheriff makes $121,061, the assessor $104,360, the auditor $99,310, and the clerk and treasurer $98,789 each. Council members make $102,779, and the council chair gets $113,056.
Considering a pay cut isn't a reflection of these officials' performance. They didn't cause the recession, and their work ethic isn't in question. It's a simple matter of fairness. Leaders of any organization ought to be subject to the same economic forces as their workers. In Snohomish County government, the salary commission is the mechanism for ensuring that.
The 10-member panel includes six citizens who were chosen randomly from the county voter rolls, and four with experience in personnel management, representing business, labor and the legal profession. All were nominated by the county executive and confirmed by the county council.
They're scheduled to meet at least three times: Wednesday, and again March 31 and April 14. All meetings are at 7 p.m. in the 6th Floor Executive Board Room, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett.
If you'd like to speak your mind, a public hearing will be part of the April 14 meeting.
*This clarification was added after the original editorial appeared.
The 2010 Citizens' Commission on Salaries of Elected Officials will gather for its first meeting Wednesday night with a clear charge: to review the duties and pay of the elected officials (county council members, executive, auditor, assessor, clerk, prosecutor, sheriff and treasurer), and fix their salaries for 2011 and 2012.
Declaring raises off the table is a no-brainer in the current budget environment, with revenues falling and the jobs of perhaps hundreds of county employees in jeopardy. If anything, commissioners should be studying whether some reduction in salaries is warranted. We'll bet county workers who took 11 furlough days last year, the rough equivalent of a 4 percent pay cut, think so.
(Pay cuts approved by the salary commission wouldn't take effect until officials' current terms expire.)*
The county revenue picture will be updated soon, and good news isn't anticipated. Indeed, forecasts for housing foreclosures are pessimistic, a sign that economic recovery will be slow. Layoffs remain a possibility for county workers, as they have been for so many others.
Current pay for the county's elected leaders is roughly in line with comparable positions in the state's most populous counties. The prosecutor and executive bring in $148,789 and $147,098, respectively. The sheriff makes $121,061, the assessor $104,360, the auditor $99,310, and the clerk and treasurer $98,789 each. Council members make $102,779, and the council chair gets $113,056.
Considering a pay cut isn't a reflection of these officials' performance. They didn't cause the recession, and their work ethic isn't in question. It's a simple matter of fairness. Leaders of any organization ought to be subject to the same economic forces as their workers. In Snohomish County government, the salary commission is the mechanism for ensuring that.
The 10-member panel includes six citizens who were chosen randomly from the county voter rolls, and four with experience in personnel management, representing business, labor and the legal profession. All were nominated by the county executive and confirmed by the county council.
They're scheduled to meet at least three times: Wednesday, and again March 31 and April 14. All meetings are at 7 p.m. in the 6th Floor Executive Board Room, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett.
If you'd like to speak your mind, a public hearing will be part of the April 14 meeting.
*This clarification was added after the original editorial appeared.
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