Lame-duck commissioner wanted to slash his successor’s pay

A Franklin County commissioner who lost his re-election bid tried to slash the salary for his successor.

But he failed.

With just two weeks before the Nov. 6 election, the county’s current commission voted 2-1 to keep the new board member’s salary at $94,325 a year.

That’s the same rate as the other two commissioners who aren’t up for election.

By state law, they had to vote on the salary for the District 3 commissioner before the election or it would have automatically dropped to the statutory minimum, $14,900.

Commissioners Brad Peck and Bob Koch voted to keep the salary the same despite the objections of Commissioner Rick Miller.

Miller, who was eliminated from the contest in the August primary, attempted to cut the salary for the person who will replace him by almost $25,000.

Franklin County has a history of contentious election-season pay debates. Tuesday’s conversation was no different.

Miller has been hostile to salary increases in the past.

In 2016, he voted against raising salaries to the $94,000 level, preferring $91,000.

But Tuesday, he proposed reducing the pay for his about-to-be-former job to $70,000, with no increases for four years.

Miller insisted it wasn’t a case of sour grapes over losing the election. Instead, he said commissioners are overpaid as it is and that newcomers shouldn’t expect to receive as much as seasoned incumbents.

Challengers Clint Didier and Zahra Roach have never held an elected office but received the most votes in the primary and will face off in the general election for Miller’s seat.

Miller, 59, said he wasn’t that keen to run for re-election and at this point is eager to step out of the job he’s held for almost 12 years and to move on to the next phase of his life.

Still, his argument for the reduced salary was clearly aimed at Didier.

Didier, a conservative Republican, has said the commission should be paid about $60,000 and has complained that its members spend too much time focused on the 70-plus outside boards and commissions they serve on.

Didier has said he will focus on Franklin County rather than the outside groups.

“I just think there should be a desire to work for the county and not just be anti-government,” Miller said.

Didier did not attend Tuesday’s session and could not be reached by email Tuesday and his voice mail was full.

Miller and Commissioner Bob Koch both mulled the idea of a training wage for the incoming commissioner.

Koch proposed starting at a lower level and stepping it up to the $94,000 level over the four years, reflecting the expertise the develops in the job.

Peck disagreed with the comparison to regular employees.

For elected officials, the election serves as the job interview. If voters don’t like what they see, they can vote the person out of office. It would be unethical not to pay all commissioners equally for equal job responsibilities, Peck said.

Koch and Peck voted to extend the same salary to the newcomer. Miller voted no. The vote did not affect Koch’s and Peck’s salaries.

Roach, the Democratic candidate for the position, attended part of Tuesday’s session.

After the vote, she used the public comment period to assure the commissioners she respects the amount of work involved and that if elected, she would consider the post a full-time job.

Washington law sets the minimum salary for a commissioner in a county with a population of 70,000 to 125,000 at $14,900. Franklin County has about 92,000 residents, according to 2017 Census estimates.

Counties may adopt higher salaries but only if the vote is taken before the election.

Elected officials may not raise or lower their own salaries in the middle of their terms.

In Franklin County, which sets expiration dates on its salaries, the commission must reauthorize the pay before election day.