Thurston County discusses reworking salary commission ordinance after state law change

Thurston County commissioners spent substantial time on Tuesday discussing proposed revisions to the county ordinance that governs the Salary Commission, focusing on whether to reserve one seat for a labor representative while leaving the remaining seats flexible to match state law.

Maria (county staff) presented the chair’s compromise: dedicate one seat to a labor representative, and allow the other three seats to be filled from a flexible pool (human resources, business or legal disciplines). Jane Buttermund from the Prosecutor’s Office told the board the state statute now requires appointees to have experience in personnel management or a “related field,” and that the county code as written reflects older statutory language that named specific categories.

Buttermund cautioned that if the county retains language specifying separate legal or business seats, the board should define what qualifies as a "related field" and what personnel experience is required for those roles. She said examples such as organized labor can be treated as a related field if the board so finds, but noted ambiguity around whether a newly minted attorney or paralegal would meet the personnel-experience requirement.

Commissioners expressed support for keeping one seat reserved for labor while preserving flexibility for the remaining appointments, but they directed staff and counsel to refine language to harmonize the county code with current state law and to return with a draft. County staff said there is time to finalize changes; ordinarily the commission work would begin in July.

No formal amendment or ordinance vote occurred at the work session. Staff and counsel will prepare a redraft for board consideration at a future meeting.