If Redmond Mayor John Marchione wins his re-election bid, he will be getting an 18 percent raise — the first mayoral pay bump since 2005.
The Redmond City Council voted 7-0 to increase the mayor’s annual salary from $106,000 to $125,000, starting Jan. 1, 2012, at the council’s Tuesday night meeting at City Hall. The council also agreed to review the mayor’s salary every four years at the beginning of each election year.
“We strived for a salary that would attract qualified candidates and still contain a strong element of public service,” said City Council President Richard Cole. “With this increase, all department heads will continue to make more than the mayor. The change is approximately equal to the cost of living adjustments for most the employees over the same period.”
In addition, the council approved to continue the $500 monthly car allowance, which has been part of the mayor’s compensation package since it was last approved in 2005.
Marchione, who filed for his candidancy with the Washington state public disclosure commission, confirmed Wednesday morning he will run for mayor again.
“As mayor, I have changed the way the city conducts business,” he said. “For example, departments are implementing customer service standards. I am proud that we changed the budget process to make it transparent and logical. This in turn has kept Redmond financially stable during a time of great economic disruption. I want to continue to create one integrated city that offers our residents choices in housing, transportation and recreation.”
No one has filed with the state public disclosure commission to run against Marchione as of Wednesday, according to the commission’s website.
Besides the mayor race, there will be four city council races this election season. The four-year terms for Cole, Pos. 5; Hank Myers, Pos. 1; Hank Margeson, Pos. 3; and David Carson, Pos. 7 all expire at the end of the year and who serves the next terms will be decided by voters in the fall.
Cole, who is serving his sixth term on the council, confirmed Wednesday that he will retire at the end of the year, meaning there will be a new face serving Pos. 5.
“I certainly hope that several people would file for my seat,” Cole said. “In my opinion, every seat should be contested.”
As of Wednesday, Margeson is the only current councilmember to file for re-election, according to the state public disclosure commission website, but Cole said he thinks both Carson and Myers will submit their bid for re-election. Myers confirmed on Thursday that he will file for re-election.
MAYOR’S SALARY
The mayor’s salary will be reviewed by the council every four years at the beginning of each election year, that way the city can attract top-level candidates, who will know how much they will be making prior to filing for candidacy.
“Our agreement was to review the mayor’s salary every four years so that if it was adjusted it would be done so prior to a mayoral election,” Margeson said. “The reasoning is that we’re trying to attract CEO/CFO level managers who may be interested in serving their community as mayor.”
The incremental cost to the general fund to increase the mayor’s salary will be approximately $21,000 in 2012, according to a Feb. 1 memo by the mayor sent to the council.
“At this time there are funds to accommodate changes in compensation such as this in the 2011-12 budget in order to implement this change,” the memo said.
When compared to other cities in the region who have mayors rather than city managers, the Redmond mayoral 2011 salary was below the average, according to a salary market review by City of Redmond staff members. The average 2011 salary of the Auburn, Edmonds, Everett, Federal Way, Kent, Lynnwood and Renton mayors was $119,000 with Everett ($155,000) being the highest and Lynnwood ($96,000) being the lowest, according to the review.
The $500 monthly car allowance for the Redmond mayor is the highest among the cities, with Renton ($400) being the next highest. In fact, Edmonds, Federal Way, Kent and Lynnwood provide no allowances, the review said.
