Former Vancouver mayors seek to overturn big pay raises

Two former Vancouver mayors are making moves to overturn Friday's decision by the city salary review commission to more than double the mayor’s salary. Bruce Hagensen, the mayor of Vancouver from 1987 to 1995, said he’s “exploring the opportunity to put something on the ballot,” asking voters to repeal the commission’s decision last week to more than double the mayor’s salary and give big raises to the rest of the city council. “I think there are significant number of people that believe the salary review committee made a mistake,” Hagensen said, adding he’s working with Royce Pollard, another former mayor. “We’re exploring ways to correct it.” Hagensen said he’s taken no action yet, other than chatting with like-minded individuals. “We’re in the exploratory stage, we’re talking to people, we’re thinking about organizing a group,” he said. In order for citizens to put a referendum to overturn the salary ordinance on the upcoming ballot, they would need to collect about 2,700 signatures within 30 days of the commission adopting the ordinance, which they are scheduled to do this week. The pay hike approved last week increases the mayor’s monthly salary from $2,300 ($27,600 annually) to $5,000 per month (or $60,000) beginning in January. Mayor Tim Leavitt, who testified in favor of the salary hike, will benefit from the 117 percent pay raise for at least one year. The increase takes effect at the start of the 2017-18 budget biennium, and his term ends at the end of 2017. Leavitt has previously said he's not planning to seek re-election. The commission, which was established by the city charter, met several times to discuss the salary increase. The current monthly salary for the mayor pro tem, a city councilor who acts as mayor in the mayor’s absence, will go from $2,000 per month (or $24,000 annually) to $3,125 (or $37,500 annually), a 56.25 percent increase. The rest of the city councilors, who currently earn $1,800 monthly ($21,600 annually), will jump to $2,708 per month ($32,496 annually) or a 50.4 percent increase. Overall, the commission members were divided between those who felt a bigger salary was necessary to attract a diverse pool of qualified candidates and those who pointed out it’s a public service position, not a full-time job, and should come with a small paycheck. This story will be updated.