Spokane Salary Commissioner testifies on legality of elected officials' raises

(The Center Square) - The City of Spokane’s elected officials came face to face last night with the commissioner who wants to deny their raises, noting how the salary increases could spark potential litigation.

The Salary Review Commission regularly convenes in even-numbered years to determine the salaries of Spokane’s elected officials for the next two years. The commissioners approved new raises in May but failed to follow a parliamentary rule that could nullify the vote.

Salary Review Commissioner Reed Jessen testified during Monday’s city council meeting, pointing out to the elected officials that in his view the commission did not legitimately approve anything.

“To be very clear, the raises for the mayor, the city council president, the city councilmembers, they were not approved by our commission,” Jessen said. “In fact, the commission explicitly voted against the raise 3 to 2.”

After the initial vote failed, Commissioner Lori Kinnear, who originally voted against the increases, wanted to change her decision to ensure that some form of raises were approved.

Kinnear and another commissioner wanted to pass larger raises and initially voted no, expecting Jessen to vote yes. Jessen voted for an amendment slimming down the increases but ultimately voted against the raises altogether, citing the structural deficit, among other reasons.

However, an official revote never occurred; while an informal vote did happen, the motion for a “revote” came from the non-prevailing side. Regardless, the correction motion would’ve been to “reconsider,” but that requires further discussion before proceeding with another vote.

Additionally, for a formal revote to occur, Kinnear would have needed to make the official motion, which did not happen. Kinnear was on the prevailing side of the vote, but the commissioner who motioned was not.

Like other governing bodies, the Salary Review Commission is required to follow Robert’s Rules of Order, the parliamentary procedure for city proceedings. However, the commission did not follow it when proceeding with the final vote, opening Spokane up to potential litigation.

Still, the rest of the commission decided to proceed and filed its 2024 Final Report with the city clerk despite the issues.

“There is no vote on record in which y’all got raises,” Jessen said. “It was reported in the news; it was filed with the clerk, but it did not take place.”

He told the council that residents testified during the commission’s meetings, saying they do not want to see their elected officials get raises as the city grapples with a $50 million deficit. Jessen said if this isn’t taken care of, people will take advantage of it, costing taxpayers a lot of money.

The council did not provide any feedback or comments regarding Jessen’s remarks on Monday night. The Center Square contacted Mike Piccolo, the city attorney, and his assistant for comments, but he was not immediately available.

“I would ask that you address this issue because it opens the city to massive lawsuits,” Jessen said.