SEQUIM — The Sequim city manager, who is retiring in July, has received a 1 percent raise.
After an informal performance review conducted in closed-door executive session, the council voted unanimously Monday to award Steve Burkett the raise effective April 1.
The raise increases his salary from $127,260 to $128,532 annually.
The raise won’t last long because of Burkett’s upcoming retirement, council members noted.
“We’ve all tried to talk him out of retiring,” said Mayor Candace Pratt.
The council is seeking a replacement for Burkett, who was hired in October 2009.
Council members discussed the process of hiring. They do not yet have a firm timeline for the process.
The city has received one application from a search firm to help the city locate and attract qualified city managers and is expecting four or five additional applications from similar firms.
There are two such firms that operate in the Pacific Northwest and know the needs of the region, Burkett said.
Once a search firm is selected in February, the council will begin the process of identifying qualities sought in a candidate and eventually narrow down a field to a few finalists in March or April.
Burkett said the field of candidates likely will be smaller than once enjoyed by cities because a large number of baby boomer-generation applicants are retiring, and fewer young people are entering public service.
Police vehicles
The City Council also approved the purchase of two new police vehicles for $50,000 each.
The Sequim Police Department has 11 active and two backup patrol cars, mostly aging Crown Victoria police cruisers, Police Chief Bill Dickinson said.
Ford no longer makes the Crown Victoria line of patrol cars, so the department has selected the new SUV-style Ford Police Interceptors, which can carry more equipment than the traditional patrol car, Dickinson said.
Switching to a new model of vehicles is more expensive because the equipment — such as light bars and the interior barrier between the officer and the back seat — that had been recycled from older patrol cars to new ones won’t fit the new models, he said.
He said the vehicles themselves are $32,500, and the remainder of the cost is in equipping them.
The department already has three of the new Police Interceptors, and Dickinson said he hopes the models last as long as the Crown Victorias so that the equipment installed can be reused when it is time to replace them in another decade or longer.
The Crown Victoria models being retired are 12 and 13 years old, Dickinson said.
Purchasing new patrol vehicles is already part of the Police Department’s budget, but large purchases must be approved by the council, he noted.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
