SEQUIM — The Sequim City Council has created a salary commission to analyze future council members’ pay.
Three appointed city residents will review salaries every four years, or sooner at council’s discretion.
The council finalized the commission in a 6-1 vote on Jan. 24, with council member William Armacost opposed.
“It’s nice to take council out of (the salary decision process),” said council member Rachel Anderson, who proposed the commission in early January.
“It’s good to keep an eye on what we’re spending in the past and in the future,” Mayor Tom Ferrell added.
Forming the commission followed the city council’s Nov. 8 decision to rescind a March 22 ordinance allowing future pay increases for all city council seats. The commission was formed in lieu of putting pay increases back in place for council members.
Armacost reiterated on Jan. 24 his points made earlier that there was a different economic status in the country now with growing inflation and general costs and that there are many in the community on fixed incomes.
He said he supports engaging the public but prefers putting the commission on hold “until we can see the economic meter rising.”
In the ordinance, any salary changes made will not begin until the current council seat’s next term. Appointees are to be determined later by the council for no more than two-year terms.
Once formed, the council has 120 days to complete a review, according to the ordinance.
The ordinance also requires that all commission meetings be open to the public, and that the deputy mayor’s salary be set at 80 percent of the mayor’s salary.
It allows city staff to provide data from comparable cities and forms of government, and allows the council the ability to establish increases or decreases outside of the commission.
The 2022 city budget shows city council’s salaries and expenses at $60,416.
Previously, Sue Hagener, director of administrative services, said the nixed increases would have been less than $10,000 over a year.
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Congressman meet
U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer met with council members for about 30 minutes on Jan. 24 as he discussed federal funding and its potential impact on Sequim.
The 6th Congressional District representative said there’s a lot still being determined about the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which has $4.7 billion dedicated to federal highways and $605 million to bridge replacement.
Council member Brandon Janisse asked if the U.S. 101 East Sequim Road Project that completes the Simdars Road Interchange could be funded through the act.
Kilmer said that was unknown but “because so much of transportation flows to Washington, there is an opportunity to get a couple bites at the apple.”
He recommended city officials contact his office if they need help with application eligibility, federal contacts, and/or letters of support and said that municipalities should “apply for everything you think you’re eligible for (at the state and federal level).”
Ferrell asked if there’s an attempt to simplify processes for applications with staff shortages and other constraints.
Kilmer said there is a recognition of a need for smaller and rural communities, and he expects some applications will be simpler for funding for those areas.
“It does us no good if smaller communities can’t take advantage of the funding,” he said.
He also acknowledged a universal need for affordable housing in his district and the nation, and to emphasize more that younger people to go into trades and technical schools.
Sustainability report
Ann Soule, Sequim’s resource manager, reported on the city’s Sustainability and Resiliency Annual Report. The city in 2012 resolved to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and in 2016 to improve sustainability and resiliency.
Some of the accomplishments included the city reducing its vehicle miles with more online meetings and training, adding a truck that runs on propane, and continued planning for water, such as for the Dungeness Off-Channel Reservoir project.
Continued efforts included the city’s electric vehicle (EV) station offsetting 9.9 tons of CO2 (about 1,017 gallons of gasoline) in 2021; and the Sequim Civic Center’s solar power array cut $4,234 in electrical rates from June 2020-June 2021.
For more on the report, click here.
Rapid relief grants
The city is closer to being able to open applications for $250,000 in grants for the Small Business Rapid Relief program, Huish said. They’re looking to open it up to businesses, not just restaurants in the city that are in need of help during the pandemic, he added.
Care Closet donation
City staff in multiple departments partnered to secure a Walmart Community Grant for $1,700 to purchase a variety of products for Sequim School District’s Care Closet that supports children of all ages and all schools receive various supplies, such as clothes, school supplies and hygiene products.
In-person meetings
On Jan. 24, Sequim’s IT Program Manager Anthony Martin said they’ve received equipment to allow for hybrid virtual, on-location meetings for city council chambers. He said they’ll schedule to work with a consultant on installation the week of April 18 followed by staff training for the equipment. No timeline was given on when meetings would begin in person.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
