PORT ANGELES — A reduced salary for the city’s public works and utilities director and a pay freeze for the city manager for 2014 have been set in stone after a City Council vote this week.
Port Angeles City Council members on Tuesday night voted 6-0, with Councilman Max Mania absent and excused from the meeting, to approve a suite of changes of the salary schedule for the city’s management, administrative and non-represented employees.
The city public works director salary has been codified at $120,513, lowered earlier this year when the city’s Parks and Recreation Department was removed from the public works director’s responsibilities, City Manager Dan McKeen said.
McKeen said the $120,513 salary was used to advertise for the public works director position. Current director Glenn Cutler will retire in August.
Craig Fulton was hired last week as the city’s new public works director and will be paid $120,513, about 9 percent lower than Cutler’s $133,082 annual salary.
McKeen also recommended that his annual salary of $137,725 not be raised 2 percent for 2014, as City Council members had approved last year as part of budget negotiations.
A 2 percent increase for McKeen would amount to about $2,754 more per year.
“I commend you [for] foregoing your 2 percent increase,” Councilman Dan Di Guilio told McKeen at Tuesday’s meeting.
The 2 percent increase was part of a cost-of-living wage increase for 90 city employees approved last year.
McKeen said he decided to take the pay freeze for 2014 to keep his salary closer to the lowered public works director salary.
The salary schedule changes approved Tuesday also correct the salaries of the city’s administrative assistant and finance systems specialist positions, McKeen said, codifying changes that were approved during past budget discussions.
“It allowed us to make those corrections and have salaries that are accurate,” McKeen said.
