The salary of the Edmonds mayor will increase by 14.6% and the city councilmembers by 20%. The Edmonds Salary Commission will present those binding recommendations — among other findings — to the Edmonds City Council during its Tuesday, Sept. 26 business meeting.
The commission is a group of five citizen volunteers who worked over the summer to review and make salary and benefits determinations for mayor and city council. The city council voted in 2022 to restart the commission in 2023 after it was disbanded in 2021.
In other business Tuesday night, the council is scheduled to consider a resolution alerting South County Fire that the City of Edmonds officially intends to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of annexation into the fire district. Edmonds currently contracts with South County Fire for fire and emergency medical services, but voters in nearby jurisdictions — including Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Brier — in recent years have voted to join the RFA.
The council will also receive a proclamation regarding Arbor Month and hear a report on the Sister City Commission’s exchange trip to Hekinan, Japan.
The meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the council chambers, Public Safety Complex, 250 5th Ave. N. You can also attend via Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/95798484261 or comment by phone at US: +1 253 215 8782 Webinar ID: 957 9848 4261.
Regular council meetings beginning at 7 p.m. are streamed live on the Council Meeting webpage (where you can see the complete agenda), Comcast channel 21, and Ziply channel 39. Prior to the 7 p.m. meeting, the council is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. in executive session to discuss collective bargaining and “to consider the selection of a site or the acquisition of real estate by lease or purchase when public knowledge regarding such consideration would cause a likelihood of increased price.”
The mayor’s raise is more than a council person makes in a entire year, or certainly really close. Seems we don’t monetarily reward our council persons nearly enough. You literally expect the decision makers to work for minimum wage, and most likely federal minimum if they are working hard at the job. Frankly this is a travesty. To bad this is a unpaid comission because these folks should be fired.
We will report more on this after the council meeting Tuesday but it’s worth reading the report, linked to the agenda. There’s an explanation of the commission’s reasoning and methodology.
Thank you Jim for valuing our service- that is what it is, and the compensation reflects that. In some of the big cities, like Seattle, councilmembers are paid career wages, but as you will see from the comparables in the packet, only a couple of the cities our size are paying more (and not a lot more).
Thank you Salary Commissioners for volunteering. You did a thorough and thoughtful job in just a couple of months, and your efforts are very appreciated.
Number one…isn’t a raise based on a job well done? I would give a report card of C- maybe.
Number two…No one should be comparing cities wages based on what? Seattle is much larger than Edmonds. And I would give Seattle a F.
number three…our economy is bad. Everything price wise is up, crime is way up, gas, etc. so..why would we say…”wow you have done very good job so let’s give you a raise while the rest of us are struggling??”
I do agree Joy that the Seattle CC is out of control as far as making a safer city for its citizens. But I also expect that they put in their time too. I would double down on that bet…As far as crime, gas all of the rest that is the fault of our STATE and County governments. I have watched CC meetings for years and since 2000 our CC has tried to get us as much help as possible here in Edmonds. I as stated am a registered I who normally votes Dem. I think of myself as a moderate Democrat mainly because I am socially liberal. I do not like extremes Joy…They are dangerous, and we have a country now that clearly shows us that is true. I have tried in social media, all formats to reach out to all and encourage talking, thinking and being fair and understanding that we must all work together or we all go down together too.
Wouldn’t a pay cut for #DropTheMike Nelson be more appropriate? per pay for performance??
…Just sayin’
I can’t believe a 20% raise! Of course everyone would like a raise of this magnitude. Raises may be in order but how about over the next two years. This is taxpayer money and the budget is tight so extravagance is out of order!
There are many Extravagant projects that have been done and continue to be done and or wanted in Edmonds that we Taxpayers are paying for now. To have our city governed by a group who actually votes on many of these decisions is a huge responsibility for our CC. and very important for ALL citizens of Edmonds. Many of the extravagances in Edmonds are things 75 % of Edmonds do not utilize and probably are not happy about at all. Let’s remember this Edmonds…the other 75% pay for your extravagances. Lose them and well you will pay the brunt for the extravagant venues, parks, even the necessities and the environmental, wants all of it. That is the danger in losing your middle-class and beyond as far as income is concerned, families.
The agenda packet says that the average mayor salary for 12 comparable jurisdictions was $141K and the median was $130,464. Our mayor has been paid $136,211 since 2021. The salary commission wants to increase it to $156,123. Part of their justification is that the adjustment is similar to the increase that other non-represented employees have been provided. Seems like the mayor is paid appropriately now and the non-represented employees might have been underpaid.
Did any of you actually read the commission’s report? Yes, 20% sounds like a lot, but based on the report their current salary of $17,000 has remained unchanged since it took effect 1.1.2021. If the salary commission had not been disbanded in 2021 they would likely have received small increases each year since landing them close to the commission’s determination. So it is to make up for those years of No increases while city staff continued to receive them. The work of city council is def not paid market wages in any city – but look at the comparable cities with same Mayor-Council set up, Edmonds is at the higher end of these. These salaries are not a secret, they know what it is when they choose to run for office. I don’t see it as an extravagance, but rather keeping up with other like cities. What would break the city budget is if they got paid the true worth for their time spent working for us.
How many of those complaining about the increases for council members would be willing to put in the hours that a council member works for $17,000 per year?
So the compensation theory here is that we are paying our Mayors real meaningful and adequate compensation for their expertise and time spent doing their jobs, while we are paying our Council Members what amounts to a token gratuity for them being willing to spend a lot of time doing what often is a burdensome and thankless job. This approach doesn’t seem very fair or very likely to get the best people possible to serve in the two capacities. It does seem like a recipe for getting government as cheap as possible, with little thought about whether it is actually good government or not. In my opinion we need a system where our mayors have less real power and compensation and our citizen representatives have more real power and at least fair compensation. This will never happen with the Strong Mayor/Weak Council from of government I suspect.
A minimum wage job or a 20$ an hour job in Edmonds (which is some in service industry, retail industry etc. make approximately 33,000.00 a year. SO, our CC with an increase of 20% will make about 21,000.00 a year. Rough estimate here. I think without a doubt a 20% increase for our educated, and or very well informed and hard-working CC is more than fair. Our council may be called a part time job but in reality, they work many more hours than a part time worker. They are under constant scrutiny, spend a lot of time speaking with and answering emails and attending this and that (give up weekends) to support our town. Of course, they deserve a raise. I can’t believe anyone here could argue that this raise is more than fair. To me they should be making well beyond a minimum wage and with that 20% they are still what is it 30% below minimum wage. Feel free someone to correct my math in any way necessary. It is also amazing to me that the mayors’ hires…make much more than the mayor. Whether I like a person in office or not has nothing to do with fair salaries.
Deborah, I accept your math because mine is terrible. What I don’t get is that we hire all these supposedly very highly qualified and experienced department heads and they go out and hire a bunch more expensive consultants because they don’t have time to do what is asked of them. Yet they have time to attend professional conferences, Sister City Celebrations with family, and conduct a bunch of surveys and special events that no one on the Council or in town has even asked for or thought about in many cases. With the exception of police; this city government just seems broken for years now.
Today there is a secret meeting scheduled to exclude the public from information about a possible huge real estate purchase by the city that, once again, the city council and the citizens haven’t asked for and knew nothing about until it was sprung on them by an over zealous Mayor and his “Professional” staff. This town has a mayor/management problem that it refuses to address in any way except an election every four years. We get what we deserve I think.
I have now read the complete Salary Commission report. While I have a few questions about some of it I found it to be extremely well done – a very thorough analysis that’s very well written!
I don’t doubt the analysis I doubt the value placed on some our most important people. I view it as a 24/7/365 job that they consider a 25 hour a week minimum wage job. This limits it to only those that have other job obligations or really don’t need any compensation one of which limits the ability to pay full attention to a most important role. I say what is the median pay for a full time job in the region I think it is over 65 thousand which is a livable wage should be the minimum compensation offered to council members. Otherwise we limit the job to elite and or those that haven’t the time to do the job justice..
I agree with Jim Fairchild’s comments about paying CC wages that are high enough so that a council person does not need a second job, or a high retirement income. I will add that Shoreline, a much larger city, runs their city with a 5 person Council (and a City Manager). Why doesn’t Edmonds pay 5 council members a living wage, and eliminate 2 council positions?
Also, we’re usually in a mode of thinking about small incremental changes. How do the bigger changes get vetted and voted on? Edmonds has to plan for 30% population growth ( neighboring cities have to plan for even higher growth rates). Small incremental changes are not the way to manage that level of change.
Update: Shoreline elects 7 council persons, and then Council appoints 2 of their own to be mayor and deputy mayor. So their job titles are 5 council members, 1 mayor, 1 deputy mayor. They have to comply with the Wash State law requirement to elect a 7 person city council (as does Edmonds). Thanks to Roger Pence for teaching me about the State of Wash reg.
Edmonds is often a leader on new and creative ideas. That is one reason Edmonds was the first Creative District in the State. We have been a CD and are now actually in the process of renewing our CD credentials. At this time we are the only CD in SC, Arlington is applying but have not yet been certified.
As one of the most creative Cities in all of Washington we should Lead the way with pay structures for our elected. Yes, we compared our pay structures with other cities and benched marked our salary to “fit in”.
With all our creative skills and leadership qualities Edmonds could lead the way for All cities in the State! For example, if we were to pay council $50,000 or even more, we would raise the bar for all cities. “Look what Edmonds did, we should do the same!” Our leadership could pave the way for all cities of our size to pay closer to a livable wage. Our council works long and hard, they should be paid accordingly.
Am I correct in saying that the salary commission recommendations are final? If so, then can we consider the recommendations as “base wages” and then subsequently add incentive pay for council members? For instance, incentives for each town hall meeting they hold. Or for the number of emails or calls they respond too. In other words, incentivize the type of behavior we want in our elected officials. I know it’s not a panacea type of approach, but it may be another way to increase pay based on performance.
Drawing pictures of nature on the sides of buildings while ignoring man’s activities of blocking streams, over building and destroying trees and wet lands in REAL NATURE, doesn’t strike me as a city that is way up there in the ranks of creative leadership at all. Most of our real creative leadership has come from the ranks of intelligent ordinary citizens and volunteers who aren’t paid at all.
I totally agree with Theresa Hollis’ observations about Shoreline with their smaller five person Council and City Manager system potentially working much better than what we have now. Hoping to get a paragon of virtue for a Mayor and seven highly qualified Council people willing and able to work long hours on the cheap every four years seems to be a pretty hit or miss proposition looking at the last 30+ years.
As the chair of the Mural Project of Edmonds, I just want to clarify that our city DOES NOT pay a penny for the murals you have seen in Edmonds! The murals are sponsored by the Mural Project, a subcommittee of Art Walk Edmonds, a volunteer run non-profit organization, which raises money for the murals through the twice yearly wine walks. We occasionally have also had private individuals sponsor murals out of their own pocket, while we run the projects on a purely volunteer basis. Art Walk Edmonds pays the artists who DESERVE to be paid for the beautiful murals the public enjoys, not the city.
There is no logical reason that I can see where seven CM’s voted at large is any more beneficial than only five would be. What makes seven the magic number in state law? If five would be more efficient and less expensive; why not? It’s like the Electoral College, the only reason for it now is because that’s just how we have always done it.
Under Shoreline’s Council/Manager system the Mayor is a ceremonial position with the duty of presiding over Council meetings as well as being a Council Person, so you don’t have the city executive responsible for enforcing city codes presiding over the meetings of the people responsible for producing the city codes. In theory this cuts down greatly on the enforcers ability to influence the making of the codes he/she is supposed to enforce.
In our system elected Mayors rule on points of order, so it is pretty easy for them to quash opinions of Council Persons they don’t want to hear from or don’t agree with. Pretty much no one agrees with me, but I think Strong Mayor/Weak Council government is why we are at where we are today, and we should consider the change to Council Manager for the potential of more transparency and better decisions.
I have nothing for or against murals on buildings, who does, them or whether or not they get paid for doing them. My point is that being a Creative District has very little to do with alleged great past leadership and much more to do with having intelligent, active, private citizens and generous volunteerism. I’m not convinced that our city government having ownership in and great influence over arts and entertainment has really been such a great thing.
My other point is that real salmon, streams, Orca whales and natural areas deserve more of our ATTENTION and FUNDING than depictions on the side of buildings that we are so fond of touting as somehow supporting natural things. To me, saving the real natural things of beauty and nature is far more important and useful than pictures of what used to be are; if we fail to do the right things and spend money wisely as a city and a culture.
I think you missed the point of what Denise Cole was saying – other than the lights in the street along 4th the city has zero to do with the arts in Edmonds. They tout it and brag about it, but it is all the result of the hard working volunteers. Not sure where you get that the city has any ownership and/or great influence over the arts and entertainment in Edmonds.
I think the city has supported the creative district in many ways. Government accommodation is support. After all what ever is done faces scrutiny. In general the support for the arts community and tourism. Are our only industry. You want growth and prosperity as the car lots on 99 disappear.? Our high tax revenue businesses. The prosperity of our downtown area is prominent. As I have Expressed it is pretty damm good, to some of our elect, don’t screw it up. The others including the mayor that want drastic change, Unhurd of spending crippling citizens for decades to come. Did I mention the city budget has nearly quadrupled in a little over ten years., fact. The prosperity of our future will have everything to do with the decisions of our elected leaders some of who make less than a third of our regional median income, in a most important role. “The road less traveled is not always a short cut”.
Karen, the city literally owns the building and parking lot of the facility called Driftwood Playhouse. If that isn’t subsidizing arts and entertainment, I don’t know what is. The city was instrumental in the idea of creating and funding the ECA, to the point where one past administration actually tried to funnel several million dollars into the project from the General Fund. That was stopped by an alert CM. The ECA has had to borrow money from the City in the past to stay afloat. All I’m suggesting is that our town culture would be much better off if we put just as much hype and city support of all types (including some money) into the natural environment as we do the symbolic and fun environments. To say our city government hasn’t made a large monetary investment in being a regional arts and entertainment center is simply untrue and those lights on 4th. is just one of the minor expenditures.