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Council discusses proposed merit/compensation process for city manager, city attorney and municipal judge
Summary
Human Resources Director Laurie Gomez presented a proposed merit and compensation administration process for the city manager, city attorney and municipal judge; councilors asked for guardrails, transparency of step ranges, and for staff to return with details to prevent conflicts of interest.
Tigard's Human Resources Director Laurie Gomez presented a recommended process for administering merit and compensation adjustments for three appointed city officers: the city manager, the city attorney and the municipal judge. The council discussed the approach and asked staff for additional guardrails and transparency before adopting the proposal.
Gomez said the proposal implements a step-based pay system and a nine-step administrative process (summarized to council) that would require the council to complete annual performance evaluations and provide the HR director with evaluation outcomes within 14 days. Gomez said the HR director would then administer any approved salary adjustments within 30 days, ensure compliance with Oregon pay equity law and applicable regulatory guidance, and provide written copies of evaluations and adjustments.
Councilors expressed support for a transparent, predictable framework but raised concerns about checks and balances. One councilor said it felt problematic for the HR director to calculate and administer pay changes for their direct supervisor (the city manager). Several councilors asked that the council retain visibility into the compensation ranges and step placements for the three officers before any administrative action is taken; staff and the city manager agreed the council would have access to the classification and compensation schedule and to the compensation-study results used to set ranges.
City Manager Stockwell noted the council's ability to provide oversight and emphasized the administration's intent to make the process clearer and more transparent. Gomez and council members discussed typical step increments and how COLA and step movement would be handled separately. No final formal action was recorded in the meeting minutes on this item; staff recommended council approve the process and to provide the classification and compensation data and guardrails for future reviews.
Council asked staff to return with specifics on steps, ranges and procedural guardrails for council review prior to final administrative implementation.
