BY PEPPER FISHER
SEQUIM – The City of Sequim is seeking three residents to be appointed by the Mayor and approved by the City Council for the City Council Salary Commission.
The Commission will review the salaries of the City Councilmembers, including the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, and file any salary changes with the City Clerk.
The previous Commission was appointed in 2022, and the salary schedule approved by that Commission has expired. Is it time for a raise? That’s what the commission will decide.
Let’s look at what they earn now. That current salary schedule has Mayor Anderson earning an annual salary of $7,944, Deputy Mayor Hartman earning $6,360, and Councilors Burger, Butler, Tjemsland and Rutter taking in $4,632 per year, according to City Clerk Heather Robley.
State statutes say the Council may increase its salaries, but it would not be applicable to the term now being served by the incumbents. In other words, they can’t give themselves an instant raise for this term.
Robley told KONP that at their February 23 meeting, the Council chose to establish a new Salary Commission, and the new commission, after due diligence, will provide a written report to the Clerk either setting a new salary schedule or determining that no revised schedule is necessary.
Applications are available at the Civic Center or online at sequimwa.gov.