John Chelminiak says he’s satisfied with the compensation he receives for his time serving as a Bellevue city councilmember, but the concerns of others on the council prompted him to speak up Monday about adjusting pay for elected officials — something that hasn’t been done in 14 years.
Bellevue councilmembers have been receiving monthly salaries of $1,650 since 2000, the deputy mayor and mayor receiving $1,750 and $1,950, respectively. When councilmembers brought up issues of compensation this year, Chelminiak said the city clerk provided them with a list of options for increasing it on Oct. 3.
Mayor Claudia Balducci said the topic of compensation for elected officials coming up Monday took her by surprise, as it had not been on the agenda. She added, after 14 years, it makes sense to take up the issue sometime before the end of the year.
“There’s the concept that if there’s not at least an attractive, I guess I would say, level of pay for the amount of work involved, then we won’t get good candidates who want to run for office,” Balducci said.
Bellevue is the fifth largest city in Washington. The sixth largest city is Everett, and its councilmembers make $2,247.04 per month, the council president takes $2,920.94 and the mayor makes $13,514.06. The salary commission for Washington’s fourth largest city, Vancouver, voted in April to increase salaries for its elected officials for the 2015-16 biennium, which includes $1,800 per month for councilmembers, $1,900 for the mayor pro tempore and $2,300 for the mayor.
Freshman councilmember Lynne Robinson said Monday the position feels like a full-time job, and the demands of the position make it hard to balance her work in the private sector. This is her first year on the council.
Balducci said five of the seven councilmembers hold full-time jobs, which is a higher number than those she served with when she joined the council in 2004. Chelminiak said he estimates working about 20 hours a week on city business, adding the position of councilmember requires a major time commitment.
“The last thing we need is a full-time council, but I think the pay that goes to a councilmember should be considered a stipend,” said Chelminiak.The mayor and a number of councilmembers have said they favor the formation of an independent salary commission to determine the appropriate compensation for elected officials. This would allow salaries to be adjusted for current elected officials. If the council voted to increase salaries, those would not take effect until the next election cycle for each position.
“The reason you want to run is not to make money,” Chelminiak said. “The reason you want to run is to help the community.”
