PORT ANGLES — A Port Angeles City Council discussion on increasing compensation for mayor and council positions generated two ideas: double the present monthly stipend or offer an hourly wage that is double the state-mandated minimum.
The council ultimately moved to have staff come back with options based on the outcome of the discussion from Tuesday night.
The initial proposal was to double the monthly compensation for the mayor and council as those compensation rates have not changed since 2003, despite an attempt to discuss it in December 2019.
Port Angeles mayor currently earns a $650 monthly stipend while each council member earns a stipend of $550 per month. Doubling the stipend would bring the mayor’s monthly stipend to $1,300 and council members to $1,100.
Washington state law dictates that council members cannot increase or decrease their salary while serving their terms, so the increase would affect only council candidates who run for seats in 2023 and 2025 and any year after.
Council member Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin proposed that the mayor and council receive an hourly wage, double the state’s current minimum wage.
“What I would propose is, basically, a scale that allows people to serve on city council at the level that they want,” Schromen-Wawrim said.
“So, what I would suggest is, basically, a per-hour compensation for council members. I would suggest twice the state minimum wage, which, currently, the state minimum wage is $15.70, so it’d be $31.48. And then we...
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