Residents to review officials' salaries

LORRINE THOMPSON, THE OLYMPIAN

THURSTON COUNTY -- The salaries of county commissioners and elected officials could change this year, but not at the hands of county officers.

Commissioners on Monday confirmed the names of 10 county residents to serve on a citizens' commission that will review the salaries of county elected officials.

The commission has the power to set the salaries of county commissioners and can recommend salaries for all other elected officials -- treasurer, assessor, sheriff, coroner, clerk, auditor and prosecutor.

Creation of citizen salary commissions was approved by state legislators last year.

"I thought this would be kind of fun, something to poke my nose into," said Madelon Barton, a citizen commission member from District Two, which encompasses the east side of the county.

Barton, a tax specialist with the state Department of Revenue, said she thought serving on the salary commission would be an interesting challenge.

"I also think it's going to be some work. It's going to be really hard to set somebody's salary," she said. "Try to give them enough that it's what they're worth, but not so much that the people voting don't want to pay it."

Details of when the new salary commission will meet and how it will operate have not yet been worked out, said Ruth Elder, who will serve as clerk of the commission.

"We'll be waiting for direction from them," said Elder, an administrative assistant with the county's Employee Services department.

"The (salary) commissioners are going to have to get together and frame their work," she said. "We'll obviously be supporting their work at their direction."

The salary commissioners will operate independently of county commissioners, Elder said.

Five members of the new commission will serve four-year terms, and five will serve two-year terms, in order to establish staggered terms.

After 2003, all salary commissioners will serve four-year terms.

Random search

Six citizen commissioners were selected through a random computer search of registered voters who live in the three voting districts, said Elections Manager Steve Homan.

A list of 20 randomly selected names from each district was provided to the Employee Services department, where staff members contacted the residents to see if they were interested in serving.

The commission is voluntary, though there may be some reimbursement for mileage.

Four salary commissioners were selected by county commissioners from professional areas established in the new law -- business, human resources, law and labor.

Elder said she's not sure when the salary commission will start meeting, but "my guess is we'll try to get going as soon as possible."

County commissioners are performing a service review of all county departments, working to identify where money can be saved after state initiatives have shrunk the available budget.

The salary-setting process will unfold as directed by new commissioners, Elder said.

"I think we had some notions about how this would go, but we haven't done this before," she said. "It's been a new process."

Lorrine Thompson covers Thurston County and health for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5431.

Salary commission members

Members of the Thurston County Citizen's Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials include:

- Citizen representatives from District One: Alicia Markoff, Janet Trick.

- Citizen representatives from District Two: Rick Meeks and Madelon Barton.

- Citizen representatives from District Three: Donald Smith and Lisa Newman.

- Legal profession representative: Jim Dixon.

- Business representative: Ken Parsons.

- Human resources representative: Joseph Schmier, from Capital Medical Center.

- Organized labor representative: Brock Logan from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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