SEQUIM — When it comes to morale, stability and salary in Sequim’s largest department, things are headed uphill from here.
So says City Manager Steve Burkett, who just got the green light to raise the salary range for public works director candidates.
During its first meeting of the new year Monday night, the City Council voted 6-1 to increase the potential salary for public works director — the chief who oversees streets, parks, sewer and water facilities.
10 percent increase
In approving a 10 percent hike over the previously advertised pay range, the council authorized a range of $80,000 to $106,000 for the director of public works, who runs a 20-person department with an annual budget of about $16 million.
Council member Erik Erichsen, though, isn’t so sure about the salary increase.
Before casting the lone vote against it, Erichsen wondered whether the council was “throwing money at the situation.”
“We need to step back,” he said, and “look at the reasons why it’s been so difficult to get someone” to stay in the job.
Last month, Ben Rankin, hired last spring by then-interim City Manager Linda Herzog at an annual salary of $83,000, left the helm of public works after just a few months.
Telling Burkett the job wasn’t right for him after all, Rankin returned to his home state of South Carolina, where he had been city engineer of Clemson for many years.
Before Rankin, the permanent public works chief was James Bay, a Sequim institution who retired in April 2008.
In late 2007, the city hired then-Port of Port Angeles airport-marinas director Jeff Robb to succeed Bay, but Robb decided in February 2008 to stay with the Port; he has since ascended to executive director.
Then, in May 2008, the City Council fired City Manager Bill Elliott and appointed Police Chief Robert Spinks interim manager. Spinks promoted City Engineer Bill Bullock to interim public works director and raised his pay to $78,666.
Bullock resigned in May 2009, saying other opportunities came up.
Moved quickly
Fast-forward to December 2009: After Rankin’s departure, Burkett brought in Jim Pemberton, the retired public works director in Anacortes.
As Sequim’s interim director, he makes what Rankin did, or about $45 an hour.
Burkett found Pemberton quickly, since he doesn’t want his city going for too long without someone watching over the myriad public works projects, such as the ongoing upgrade of the $9 million water reclamation plant and maintenance of streets, parks, sewer lines and other things residents take for granted.
As if to illustrate, on Monday night, Pemberton obtained council approval for $110,000 in repairs to a cracked slab in the water reclamation facility.
Meantime, Burkett has been talking with city employees, including those at public works, and has noticed the low morale there.
“Clearly, the Public Works Department has suffered because of a lack of continuity and leadership,” Burkett acknowledged during Monday’s council meeting.
Adding that he’d like to “get started tomorrow” in the search for a permanent director, Burkett said he may be able to have a chief hired by the end of March.
Recruiter to be used
In an interview Tuesday, Burkett added that he will pay Prothman, a Seattle-based recruiting firm, $10,000 to assemble a pool of candidates. The money for this is in the 2010 budget approved by the council, he said.
Just before the council voted, though, real estate agent Karen Pritchard went to the podium.
“It is incumbent upon all of us, in this time of tightening fiscal belts, [to] think very carefully about how to spend our money — and it is our money,” she said, adding that with the nation’s unemployment rate at 10 percent, there may well be plenty of qualified candidates who would take the Sequim position for a salary somewhere under $80,000.
But Pat Clark, another Sequim resident, urged the city to pay top dollar for a top-flight director.
“One time I hired a cheap plumber,” he said. Then his ice machine blew up, costing him an unexpected $6,000.
He hired a good, pricey plumber after that.
The new salary range for public works director isn’t the only high-ticket item here. To find Rankin, the city paid the Seattle recruiting firm Waldron & Co. an $18,000 fee.
After all of this, Burkett can only hope for smoother going. He’s freshly hired himself; Burkett arrived in mid-October after Herzog finished her nine-month contract as interim manager in early September.
It’s been hard to find and keep a public works director, Burkett said, since for more than a year nobody knew who would be the permanent city manager.
At the same time, Joe Irvin, the city’s associate planner, has some information to share with public works director applicants.
“It’s a big job,” even if Sequim is still a small town, Irvin said Tuesday.
The Public Works and Planning departments work together on a lot of projects, from infrastructure maintenance to new commercial development.
Irvin added he’s encouraged by Burkett’s first three months at the city’s helm. He brings long-needed stable leadership, the planner said.
As for upping the salary for the yet-to-come public works director, Irvin agreed with the council majority.
“You get what you pay for,” he said.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com.