Mayor's raise on agenda

April 8, 2007

By Russell Stigall

Frontiersman

WASILLA - Generous Wasilla taxpayers get the opportunity to shell out some extra cash to their mayor.

If the city council passes a resolution to raise Keller's wage Monday night, the mayor will be sitting on an extra $6,469 per year.

The resolution was removed from the consent agenda at the Feb. 26 city council meeting and is set for reconsideration Monday. If passed, the raise will go into effect July 1.

The resolution to increase the mayor's salary, sponsored by council member Greg Koskela, originally called for an $11,000 raise. Koskela calculated the raise based on the annual increase in the consumer price index from Anchorage. To fine-tune the number more, the city's human resources staff called around and checked on salaries of similar positions in other cities, Koskela said.

In the original resolution Koskela came up with the higher number by mistake, adding an extra year of CPI. His math was set straight by city finance director Ted Leonard. The mayor's proposed salary was revised down from $84,236 per year to $79,960 per year.

The reason Koskela requested a raise for the mayor, he said, was because city code requires the council to set the mayor's salary 90 days prior to an election.

&#8220City code says to do it, and it hasn't been done,” Koskela said, adding that the mayor's salary hasn't been raised in over three years.

As to why the mayor's raise was put on the Feb. 26 consent agenda, where the public couldn't comment and which provided little, if any, opportunity for discussion by council members. Koskela said it is common practice for the clerk to put resolutions on the consent agenda with the idea that council members remove for discussion the resolutions they want.

On Monday, the mayor's raise will be discussed under new business. This will allow time for public comment.

&#8220I asked the clerk to put it under new business this time, because I'm sure its going to be discussed,” Koskela said.

Since 2003, Keller's salary has been raised from $68,000 to $73,481. This does not include benefits.

Keller also receives $11,966 in insurance, $11,142 for her retirement account, $780 for a commuter car and is reimbursed for some travel expenses.

Koskela, who is rumored to want to replace Keller as mayor at the end of her term in 2008, was asked how this might appear to voters that he would promote a raise he may someday receive.

&#8220It is supposed to be looked at again 90 days before the next election anyway,” Koskela said.

He would be a council member then, too. He said it is not about who is running next, but about who is mayor now.

Koskela said he doesn't agree with the political way mayoral raises are done now.

&#8220Personally I don't like the way it is set up. Somehow, it should be detached from the council,” Koskela said.

Political watchdog Anne Kilkenny said she thinks appearances are important in this situation.

&#8220In a small town like Wasilla you can't do these kinds of things without appearing self-serving,” Kilkenny said. &#8220It looks bad that supporters of the resolution might be running for mayor in the near future.”

Kilkenny said she would like to see a pay structure set up that bypasses negotiation and politics.

&#8220It has to do with appropriately compensating the kind of quality mayor we would like to have, appealing to someone who has an appropriate background and experience, without making it appealing just because of the pay,” she said.

A premium should go to mayors with a lifelong dedication to public service.

&#8220Years invested in city council and commission or years spent on a public service degree,” Kilkenny said.

Mayor salary does not reflect the salary of the average wage-earner in the Valley, Kilkenny said.

Keller said she does not think the salary process is too political in appearance. She noted she is currently paid less than most department heads, including the city clerk.

&#8220First off, the city in the last 11 years has taken on a performance-level system and taken qualifications into account, keeping up with what the marketplace can bear,” Keller said.

City Clerk Kristie Smithers, who recently received a pay hike to $72,374, has 23 years of administrative experience at the borough and city levels, including nine at Wasilla City Hall and 10 as deputy borough clerk. She also is one of only three city clerks in the state to earn certification as a master municipal clerk, something that takes years of training and classes outside her vocational duties.

By comparison at the local mayoral level, Palmer pays its mayor, John Combs, around $40,000 a year. However, Combs has a city manager to help run the city.

Keller is assisted by her deputy administrator, Sandra Garley, who draws an annual salary of $81,677, with a benefits package that totals $38,373, according to city payroll records.

During her first campaign for mayor, Keller indicated she would not fill the vacant deputy position. She worked her three-year first term without one.

Keller countered that she did not create Garley's position. The position existed, but was not funded.

&#8220The council approved funding of the deputy position,” Keller said. &#8220I did not have a deputy for the first part of my administration.”

During the council meeting's public comment period on Feb. 26, several residents expressed concern about the mayor's raise. Conrad Hower said during public participation that city raises should be more universal.

&#8220It is not fair when others are looking to get raises and they're stopped pretty cold,” he said.

Mayor Keller was quick to respond then that the city of Wasilla practices Pay for Performance.

&#8220If you hear of a city employee that did not get a raise, it is because they didn't earn it,” Keller said.

Keller served a one-year term and a full term as Wasilla City Council member for Seat B beginning in 1996. In 2002, she was elected mayor, a position that comes with a two-term limit. Keller is in her second term, which expires in 2008.

Contact Russell Stigall at 352-2267 or russell.stigall@frontiersman.com