Minutes 06-11-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Jacobs said he now understands her position, while he may not agree with it. He said another way to address option 2 or 3 would be to phase it in over four years, allowing for each Commissioner to have to run for re-election, after raising their salary. He said it would give the citizens the opportunity to weigh in. Chair McKee asked if Commissioner Jacobs meant that none of this would go into effect until 2016. Commissioner Jacobs said no. He said his suggestion is to phase in the pay raise over four years. Commissioner Dorosin said it is a hard conversation to have and he sees two policy points: the first is that artificially low salaries for public service narrows the pool of candidates that can participate; the second is that if the pay rate has not been raised in 20 years, then it is perfectly acceptable to do so. He agreed with Commissioner Burroughs that there should be one flat number. Commissioner Dorosin suggested raising the salary to $20,000, costing the County an additional $17,500. Commissioner Price suggested leaving travel separately, as other counties do adding it may be preferable in regards to filing taxes. She said the salary should be one number not a per diem rate for meetings. Commissioner Rich agreed with Commissioner Dorosin. Commissioner Price agreed with Commissioner Rich. Commissioner Pelissier agreed with Commissioner Dorosin regarding who is able to run for office. She said the problem is that adding a few thousand dollars is not going to change who can run but it is a start. She said the Board members are all on numerous boards outside the Board of County Commissioners and thus attending even more meetings. Commissioner Jacobs said he does think that improving the salaries will attract candidates and diversity. He suggested looking at their neighbors and striving to be in the same ballpark. Chair McKee said the retribution of the voters is always a reality. Commissioner Dorosin agreed with Commissioner Pelissier that raising the salary is only a start towards attracting more diverse candidates to run for elected office. He said the other side of the coin is to discuss the number of meetings the Board has. A motion was made by Commissioner Dorosin, seconded by Commissioner Pelissier to approve a total compensation package of$21,000 (including travel and salary). Chair McKee said there is an incremental tier for the Chair and Vice Chair and asked if there should be the same incremental step up for these roles. Commissioner Rich made a friendly amendment to keep Chair and Vice Chair with same percentage tier. Commissioner Dorosin and Commissioner Pelissier accepted this. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Bonnie Hammersley said there will be a compensation discussion on every budget going forward. Paul Laughton referred to the revised County Fee Schedule hand out at the Commissioners' places. He said it is part of the Board's appendix A. He said there are a few wording changes and the County Fee Schedule will be before the Board at the next meeting for approval.