A group of Spokane city council members denounced Mayor David Condon’s proposed budget at a news conference this morning. The line-item budget was released to city council Monday, missing some elements the council requested, but including $1.7 million in salary increases.
The highest city earner will be Police Chief Frank Straub, who gets a step increase that brings his salary to nearly $180,000. Condon will earn the same amount because of a city charter clause that the mayor shall earn as much as the city’s top-paid employee. Council President Ben Stuckart says that doesn’t mean the mayor should take a raise.
Stuckart: “You don’t have to do anything, Mayor Verner took a $100,000 a year salary and I didn’t see anybody suing her or taking her to court. Just because you can does not mean you should."
Friday, Condon rebutted those concerns by announcing he’ll take the raise, but donate all $7,000 to the city’s heritage month events and local youth services. Stuckart says the council unanimously approved a list of budget requests in April, and those that are left out will be presented as changes by the council. That includes restored funding for the COPS policing program and increased funding for front line firefighters. Council member Candace Mumm says the city will bust through the police overtime budget this year.
Mumm: “To a tune of $2.8 million for police overtime. Turning to fire and EMS, the city is on track to spend $2.3 million in firefighter overtime, 63 percent over budget.”
She says these funds could go a long way towards hiring. Condon responded in writing to the council that “budget limitations and service level needs do not warrant/allow the addition of staffing for Fire at this time.”
Mayor Condon pointed blame on the council for why some requests aren’t in the draft budget: one of their other requests was to have prudent reserves.
Condon: “Balanced with start new programs or have prudent reserves. At least in my two and a half months of outreach to thousand of people, 15,000 actually, they said we really need to make sure our reserves are building back up.”
Condon says let’s start the debate.
Condon: “This is when the budget cycle used to start, but instead of now debating $600-million plus, we are debating a few hundred thousand, and I hope to God we get a better answer. This is the draft budget, I get it, I worked in the legislative branch for seven years. They get the final say.”
Council members Stuckart, Mumm, Amber Waldref, Karen Stratton, and Jon Snyder have announced disapproval of the Mayor’s budget. Mike Fagan said at the Friday news conference he doesn’t condemn or condone cabinet member raises, because it is laid out in the city charter and city ordinances.
Copyright 2014 Spokane Public Radio
