One month after Spokane city council members publicly dismissed the mayor’s proposed budget, on Monday Mayor David Condon dropped his plans to get a $7,000 raise. Condon proposed a three-step salary reform, and signed a waiver to give up his planned raise.
In step one, the independent salary review commission would take over authority to set the mayor’s salary. Mayor Condon wants his office to appoint two members, the city council to appoint two members, and the commission to vote on a fifth member.
The second step would change the arbitration guidelines that govern labor contracts for police and firefighters. To accomplish this, Condon wants to push the state legislature to add disparity in housing costs across the state to the factors of labor arbitration.
The third step includes a review of city staff salaries.
In October Condon proposed a 2015 budget that included one-point-seven million dollars in salary increases, but left out funding for the COPS program, a city council attorney, and other council requests.
Councilman Mike Fagan has become the unofficial mediator for the salary controversy. He organized a series of community meetings about the cost of government. The final forum is Friday at 10:00 a.m. in city hall.
Copyright 2014 Spokane Public Radio
