Charter panel debates capping elected officials’ pay, advances discussion to committee of the whole

Whatcom County Charter Review Commission members spent the meeting’s longest block debating a proposal to change how elected officials’ salaries are set and indexed. Commissioner Andrew Redding proposed replacing the current salary-commission system with a formula tied to the state minimum wage and set numeric caps intended to keep the county executive below the governor’s pay and other elected officials below comparable state posts.

Redding said the change was aimed at bringing what he described as “obvious imbalances” into line with local conditions. “We’re a small county, we’re a county with, you know, where, the average wage is, annual wage is $62,000 a year, we’re paying more for part time positions than people get for full time average positions,” Redding said. He told colleagues the proposal was designed “in such a…