How much county elected officials are paid is being scrutinized by six citizen volunteers. The Snohomish County Citizens’ Commission on Salaries of Elected Officials, an independent volunteer board, met last week for the first time this year.
Commissioners elected Barbara Earl of Mill Creek as chair and Walter Hall of Everett as vice chair. The other members are Dan Chavis of Arlington, Ruth Clark and Bill Wright, both of Everett, and Donn Wells of Edmonds.
“We represent the interests of citizens in seeing that the salary review process is a fair one,” Earl said. “Our responsibility is to ensure that salaries of elected officials are determined objectively.”
Officials whose salaries are being reviewed include the Assessor, Auditor, Clerk, Council, Executive, Prosecuting Attorney, Sheriff and Treasurer. The commission will study job descriptions of those officials and make salary comparisons between Snohomish County and other counties. It also may consider other criteria.
The commission is charged with making salary level recommendations to the County Council. Prior to making those recommendations, two public hearings will be scheduled in coming weeks to gather public comments.
The commission’s next two business meetings are scheduled for Wednesday and July 2, both at 2 p.m., in the Willis Tucker Conference Room on the third floor of the County Administration Building.
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