2019-07-24 Salary Commission MinutesSALARY COMMISSION
Meeting Minutes
SPECIALLY CALLED MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
7:00 pm
Police Department Training Room
250 5t" Ave. N., Edmonds, WA 98020
Present: Jay Grant, Chair
Ava Dubno, Vice -Chair
Don Hall, Commissioner
Marilynne Beard, Consultant, MMB Consulting
Excused: Carl Zapora Commissioner
Jeff Hodson, Commissioner
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Grant called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Chair Grant asked the Commissioners if they had any changes to the agenda.
Noting none, the agenda was approved as submitted.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Chair Grant asked the Commissioners if there were any changes to the Meeting
Minutes of the July 17, 2019 meeting. Commissioner Hodson had submitted
edits via email. Additional minor corrections were made. Commissioner Dubno
moved to approve the minutes as amended. Commissioner Hall seconded the
motion. Motion was approved unanimously.
PUBLIC HEARING
Chair Grant opened the Public Hearing. He noted that there were no members
of the public present. Commissioner Hall made a motion to close the Public
hearing. Commissioner Dubno seconded the motion. The motion was approved
unanimously and Chair Grant closed the Public Hearing.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Member Update
Ms. Beard noted that she had spoken to Commissioner Zapora regarding
meeting dates. He has had a series of conflicts with the scheduled meetings and
will be unable to attend two of scheduled meetings coming up. He noted that he
ELW 7/2/2019
has reviewed all of the minutes and materials provided and would appreciate a
meeting with Chair Grant regarding the Commission's work prior to the next
meeting on August 7. Chair Grant will contact Commissioner Zapora and
schedule a meeting with him.
Review and Update of Additional Data Received since Last Meeting
• Wage and Benefit Comparable Cities -- Ms. Beard noted that the salary
for the Lynnwood Mayor had been added.
Comparable Cities FTE's and Population — Ms. Beard added all of the
cities surveyed for the wage and benefit table and created two tables, one
with Strong Mayor cities and one with Council/Manager cities.
Updated Cost of Living Adjustments — Data for 2018 and 2019 is now
shown on the printed version of the table. Commissioner Hall asked for
wage adjustments other than Cost of Living in 2018 and 2019. He would
also like clarification about which employee groups have a step system in
their wage schedule. Ms. Beard will work request this information from
Human Resources.
Commission Topics of Interest or Concerns
Survey Questions — Chair Grant distributed a draft of survey questions
for the City Council (Attached). Two topics were addressed including the
use of accountability measures for determining compensation and
differential compensation for the Council President. He recommended
that any accountability measure should be objective, consistent for all
Councilmembers and measureable. Meeting attendance was discussed
as a possible measure of accountability. Councilmembers are responsible
for attending City Council meetings and,for assigned Council Committee
and Regional Committee meetings. The Commission discussed which of
those meetings were currently tracked and how they could be tracked
Commissioner Hall noted that it may be difficult to track attendance at
meetings held outside of Edmonds (regional meetings).
The Commission then discussed whether compensation tied to meeting
attendance should be additive or deductive (e.g. should Council received
additional compensation for attending all assigned meetings or have
compensation deducted for not attending). If there is a reduction in
current compensation for not attending assigned meetings, it would need
to be implemented at the beginning of each Councilmember's next term
per the Salary Commission enabling ordinance. The Commission also
discussed whether Council compensation adjustments should reflect
adjustments approved by the Council for all employee groups.
Chair Grant suggested a more succinct Council survey focusing on the
idea of accountability, using meeting attendance as a measure and asking
about any other measures the Council may want the Commission to
consider. The survey will also address compensation for the Council
President.
Commissioner Dubno suggested that the community survey include the
same questions as the Council survey. The Commission agreed with that
approach.
Based on the Commission's discussion, Ms. Beard will draft survey
questions using Chair Grant's handout for Council survey questions as a
starting point for both the Council survey and community survey. The
Commission asked for a complete list of all regional Committees
Councilmember may be assigned to.
Survey Distribution — Ms. Beard noted that she had an opportunity to
speak with the City's Community Relations staff about possible groups to
send a survey link to. Staff had suggested that the Commission email the
survey link to all City Board and Commission members and add a link to
the City's Facebook page. The Edmonds Downtown Merchants
Association was mentioned as well as Business Improvement District
members. Ms. Beard will provide a complete list of all community groups
to survey for the next meeting and work with staff to obtain contact
information.
Future Commission Meeting Schedule
• Wednesday, August 7, 2019, 7:00 pm — Commission Meeting
• Wednesday, August 14, 2019, 7.00 pm — Commission Meeting
• Wednesday, August 21, 2019 7.00 pm — Commission Meeting and Public
Hearing
• Wednesday, September 11, 2019 7:00 pm — Commission Meeting
101t9:I4 V
There were no other items for discussion.
Chair Grant adjourned the meeting at 8:51 p.m.
ATTACHMENTS
Draft Survey Questions for Council (provided by Chair Grant)
Draft Questions for Consideration to Pose to Councilmembers in regard to
the Salary Commission's determining compensation and benefit.
The Salary Commissions of present and the past have for the most part used
information from multiple communities to determine compensation. Like any
position understanding the responsibilities of the work and compensation norms
are important. The current Commission is made of the same members as the
determinations made in 2017. Therefore, we can say with certainty the objective
concluded was to bring the Council's compensation into reasonable par with the
medium of those communities.
This Commission in reviewing salary has been looking into accountability as a
determining factor this period, and perhaps in the future. In our discussions, we
noted in one example from the City of Lynnwood their public disclosure of a
Councilmember's "job description" and "City Council Member Responsibilities."
The Commission realizes as elected members of the community there are few
mandatory requirements, and in the end, it is the citizens who determine if a
Councilmember is elected.
1. However, as to compensation; do you have an agree or disagree that linking
of accountability in determining the amount of salary a Councilmember
should make would be acceptable if the determination is unilateral, is not
subjective, and could be tracked?
(a) Agree
(b) Disagree
(c) Inappropriate
(d) No opinion
2. If you agree, do you think the form of accountability should be determined
by how much:
(a) Based on committee meeting assignments and attendance on behalf of
the City, especially those committees that are outlined on the website that
each are assigned to;
a. Agree
b. Disagree
3. If you agree accountability is relevant and compensation consideration
could be a relevant factor for the Salary Commission to include; do you
have any suggestions as to relevant accountability that could easily be
tracked and is not subjective other than those outlined above?
4. Do you have an opinion as to any other factors a Salary Commission
should consider in determining compensation and benefits, other than the
present multiple community comparison?
5. We recognize the Council President has additional responsibilities and
spends additional time in the performance of their work. The current
compensation is an additional $200 a month. Is this amount?
(a) Commensurate with the work responsibilities
(b) Not commensurate with the work responsibilities, if so?
a. Too little
b. Too much