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Thurston County commissioners debate salary commission rules after state law change
Summary
County commissioners discussed revising county code for the Salary Commission to preserve a dedicated labor seat while aligning membership requirements with a changed state statute; prosecutors’ office staff said appointees must have personnel-management experience or a related field.
Thurston County commissioners at an agenda-setting session on May 6, 2025, discussed changes to county code governing the Salary Commission after the state revised statutory qualifications for appointees. The board debated keeping one seat reserved for a labor representative while allowing the other three seats to be flexible.
The issue matters because the county’s existing ordinance was written under the prior state law and, as Maria (staff member) told the board, “that has to be changed before the salary commission can meet again.” The change affects who the board can lawfully appoint and how quickly the commission can be reconstituted.
Jane Buttermund, prosecutor’s office, summarized the current statutory test: appointees “must have experience in the field of personnel management or a related field.” She said that while the old county code specified distinct labor, legal and business seats, the state law now only requires personnel-management experience or a related field, leaving room for interpretation about whether law, business or organized labor qualify as ‘‘related fields.’’
Chair Ty Mentzer proposed a compromise that would reserve a single seat for labor while allowing the other three seats to be filled from among human resources, business or legal backgrounds as the law permits. “My goal was to have a labor seat, but to keep the other three seats as flexible as the law permits,” Mentzer said.
Commissioners asked staff and the prosecutor’s office to reconcile the county code with state law and return with a redrafted ordinance. Maria (staff member) asked for time to “do the research” and said staff would bring a refined proposal back in about a week. County staff also noted there is no immediate statutory deadline forcing an earlier meeting of the Salary Commission; historically work would start in July.
Discussion points included concerns about preserving labor representation, avoiding overloading the commission with a single constituency, and the practical difficulty of filling seats under the prior, more prescriptive code. The board did not take a formal vote; it directed staff to draft ordinance language harmonized with state law and the board’s stated policy goals and to return with that proposal for formal action.
The county prosecutor’s clarification and the staff direction were the key outcomes: legal standards were restated for the record, and staff were assigned to produce draft code language for the board’s future consideration.
