Where’s Mike?

LYNNWOOD — Critics, including some City Council members, claim Mayor Mike McKinnon’s attendance and productivity have been erratic since the mayor lost his bid for a second term in November.

They say McKinnon has not chaired Council meetings, signed about 10 Council ordinances or been available to answer questions at the Council’s budget sessions during his last two months in office.

McKinnon said he has been working every day since Nov. 9, the day after the election, with the exception of three sick days. He said he is actively meeting with employees, chairing committee meetings, signing documents and responding to e-mail.

Time is — quite literally — money in this case.

If the Lynnwood mayor has any remaining vacation days when his term ends on Dec. 31, he will receive money as compensation when he leaves, just like any other city employee.

The sum could be thousands of dollars depending on how much vacation time McKinnon has left, said Councilman Ted Hikel.

“We have a responsibility to be fair, to pay him what we owe him,” said Hikel, chair of the city’s audit committee. “But we also have a responsibility to the citizens of Lynnwood to not pay for services that were not rendered. I believe in a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.”

As a salaried employee, McKinnon said he gets paid the same amount whether he works 40 hours a week or 60 hours a week.

“It seems to me if Ted (Hikel) were making inquiries about my time, he would go to the best source about my time. He would ask me. He has never contacted me. I am performing the duties of the mayor,” McKinnon said. “No one ever asked me about my work time for the first three years and 10 months when I was averaging 60 hours a week and 12 hours a day.”

Even salaried employees have to keep a record of vacation days and sick days, Hikel said, and that is one of several things Hikel is examining.

On Tuesday Dec. 20, Hikel filed a public records request to get documents about McKinnon’s vacation time, sick time, travel expenses, food expenses, education expenses and related expenses during his four year term. Hikel also asked for documents about the mayor’s cell phone calls during the 2005 campaign season.

Hikel said his next move will depend on what he finds out. His quest has more to do with finding loopholes in city policy and closing them for future generations, he said.

The Lynnwood mayor is entitled to four weeks of vacation per year, but there is a question about how many hours of vacation the mayor can carry-over from year to year, Hikel said. That may need to be defined by new legislation, he observed.

“As a council, we have been trying to have policies that treat all employees fairly,” Hikel said. “We would hope that these things do not arise in the future, but the only way to ensure that is to write policies about that.”

Mayor answers to voters

Council President Loren Simmonds, Councilwoman Ruth Ross, Councilman Jim Smith and Councilwoman Lisa Utter said there are concerns about the mayor’s time and vacation compensation.

“I know how it works with a salaried person. They come in and get their work done for the day,” Ross said. “I do not want people to think we are picking on him. I do think you have a responsibility to fill. If you are not coming in, you need to be taking vacation time. Everyone else does.”

But the city attorney has advised the Council there is little they can do because the mayor is an elected official. He answers to the people.

Voters favored Councilman Don Gough by about 60 percent in November. Gough said he will take office on Jan. 1 as planned — no sooner and no later.

“We have only one mayor at a time,” Gough said. He declined to comment further.

McKinnon, who is supposed to chair Council meetings, has attended less than four regular or business meetings in November and December, including budget sessions. On two occasions, the mayor sat in the audience and refused to chair the meeting, according to Council members.

“I have attended 3 or 4 city Council meetings since Nov. 8 though this is a low priority item for me,” McKinnon said.

Simmonds confirmed that the mayor did not sign about 10 council ordinances and resolutions in the past two months. Because of the city attorney’s recommendation, Simmonds started signing the documents as Council president a few weeks ago so the city’s business could continue.

“I am kind of disappointed because the bottom line is the mayor is still the mayor until Dec. 31,” Simmonds said. “He may feel like he has continued to do his job, but it has obviously had some gaps in it because he was not around for any of the budget sessions. I do not know how many hours he puts in a day. He is a big boy. My job is not to monitor his behavior.”