Bellingham’s new Salary Commission, tasked with setting the City Council’s pay, has at least a few people who know something about what the work entails.
Mayor Seth Fleetwood on Aug. 29 named two former council members and a former mayor to the seven-member commission.
Commissioners Gene Knutson and Pinky Vargas both retired from the City Council just last year. Knutson served for 28 years, Vargas for eight. Joining these two on the commission will be Ken Hertz, who was Bellingham’s mayor in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The Salary Commission will meet twice a month for three months, beginning Sept. 14, then disband. Its only job will be to set council members’ pay rate for the next eight years. Meeting information will be posted on the Salary Commission webpage.
The group’s decision is final and is not subject to council review. Any salary increase would take effect next year. A salary decrease wouldn’t be applied until after each council member’s term is over.
Council members are paid $29,652 this year.
The other four Salary Commission members are:
- RB Tewksbury, who was also named to the Whatcom County Stakeholder Advisory Committee currently planning a new jail, and the city’s Broadband Advisory Workgroup;
- Kenny Ramberg, who owns the business consulting firm Ramcorp;
- Jedediah Givens, who described himself on his Salary Commission application as a writer and teacher; and
- Gerard Kahle, a retired pharmaceutical scientist who is active at Church of the Assumption.
