PORT ANGELES — After an executive session last month, the City Council gave City Manager Kent Myers a 5 percent raise.
Myers, hired by the council December 2008, is now making $157,590 per year.
His starting salary was $150,000. The raise passed unanimously Dec. 15 as part of an annual performance review after the closed-door discussion ended.
A reporter was not present when the council acted on the raise. The action was included in the city meeting minutes.
The pay increase includes a 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment and a 3 percent “merit” raise for a job well done. All city employees, through their union contracts, also received the same COLA increase.
When asked about the raise, City Council member Dan Di Guilio said, “He got a positive evaluation. The council was happy with his performance last year.”
He added that such merit raises are available to all city employees.
The city manager is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the city and oversees all city departments and employees.
For 2010, the city budgeted for 256.10 full-time equivalent employees. The figure is lower than the 265.10 FTEs in 2009.
It does not include the people who work at the William Shore Memorial Pool.
The city expects to lose those 3.3 FTEs from its payroll sometime this year when it stops managing the pool on behalf of the William Shore Memorial Pool District.
The drop in FTEs also can be attributed to a reduction in staff elsewhere in the Parks and Recreation Division.
City Council member Don Perry said a city manager’s salary is based on more than how many people work for the city. The complexity of issues that they have to handle and their performance weigh in heavily as well, he said.
“We look at what he has done, how he has managed the group that he has, and he has done a wonderful job we thought,” Perry said.
Myers’ contract calls for a health benefits package “comparable to department heads.” City Human Resources Manager Bob Coons did not be immediately return a phone call Tuesday afternoon requesting how much those benefits cost annually.
The contract also provides for severance pay equal to six month’s salary and health benefits if he were terminated for any reason that was not for “cause.” He would not receive any severance pay if he resigned.
Myers also started with 80 hours of leave. He earns an additional 30 days of leave per year, which he would be entitled to upon leaving the city’s employment.
He replaced interim City Manager Jerry Osterman, who made $12,000 per month.
The previous city manager, Mark Madsen, made $148,000 per year. He left in 2008 citing “untenable, hostile working conditions” with some council members as the reason for his departure.
Madsen received $37,000 in severance pay.
