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MAY 1998

Citizens say pay mgr. more

SUNNYSIDE (4-29-98 )--It's a fact of life that, today, the CEO of a $22.5-million corporation easily makes more than $100,000 a year.

But what if that corporation is the city of Sunnyside, with a population half of which makes less than $15,000 a year? Won't such a salary be hard for the citizenry to approve?

It's a knotty problem, and the city council is somewhat uncomfortable about it.

But members of Sunnyside's city manager citizen selection committee say the city needs to look beyond that fact. Getting the right person for a tough job should be the council's top priority.

"In order to get a qualified person, you can't let (citizen complaints) drive your decision making," said committee member Bruce Epps.

Committee member Jeff Barrom agreed.

"You gave us charge of selection. The first problem we ran across was the salary," said Barrom, indicating it should be higher than the $67,000 so far proposed.

Jo Balfour, a Mabton official and Sunnyside resident, said the city would benefit from paying a city manager well, with top fringe benefits.

"If you get the right person, he can pay for himself twice over by the decisions he makes. If you get the wrong one, he can be a disaster," Balfour said.

In urging a higher salary for the new city manager, the selection committee compared the salaries of managers in Ellensburg, Moses Lake, and Prosser. Managers of those eastern Washington towns make much more than Sunnyside has so far proposed.

Based on the selection committee's recommendation, the council will hike the top salary as listed in nationwide advertisments for a new manager.

There's nothing that says the city must pay the person the top salary advertised, however. Negotiations with finalists would determine a final salary figure.