Asotin councilors consider pay bump for mayor post

Asotin officials are considering increasing the mayor’s monthly salary from $350 to $500.

At Monday night’s council meeting, Councilors Tim Ottmar and Steve Cowdrey said the pay hasn’t gone up in many years, and the mayor is putting in long hours and lots of work to oversee six city employees and a budget of more than $1 million.

An ordinance will be drafted for a first reading at the next regular council meeting, Cowdrey said. He suggested having it go into effect Jan. 1, 2024, if approved.

Mayor Dwayne Paris hasn’t decided whether he’s running again, but the job will be on the ballot this year. He told the council he appreciates them looking into the pay issue, and made it clear he didn’t instigate the proposal and couldn’t vote to avoid any conflict of interest.

Paris works a minimum of 20-to-25 hours a week on city business, but typically averages 40 or more, including weekends, vacation days, late-night calls and responding to emergencies.

The ordinance outlining the mayor’s duties and compensation hasn’t been updated since 1984, although some pay adjustments were made over the years, Cowdrey said. When he was mayor in 2007, the pay was $200 a month.

While researching the issue, Cowdrey and Ottmar compared mayor stipends to cities of similar sizes in the state. Clarkston, which has a larger population, now pays the mayor $1,200 a month.

Ottmar pointed to the increased volume of work for the mayor. Clerk Tina Davidson researched the budget, and the city can afford the increase, he said.

“I think it’s deserving,” Ottmar said.

Paris said the current pay boils down to about $5 on any given day of the month. It’s not a Monday to Friday job. He fields calls at night and has used personal vacation from his full-time job at Clearwater Paper for city business, he said.

“I really appreciate the look at this because it’s time consuming, and $5 a day is pretty easy to walk away from. And no, I haven’t decided if I’m going to run again.”

Cowdrey said it’s rare for a contested race in Asotin, and the boost could attract more candidates.

“I think that’s fantastic,” Councilor David Weakland said of the proposal.

In other city business:

The 2022 police report compiled by Police Chief Monte Renzelman was presented by Paris.

Calls for service increased last year, including two people sent to jail for assaults on Asotin police officers. Two other assaults were reported on Asotin County deputies while on patrol in Asotin.

One area of concern is inside the trailer park at 1412 Fourth St., Renzelman wrote in his report. “It has become such a draw on resources, consisting of over 30% of the call load with several serious calls in nature, it was submitted to the prosecuting attorney as a nuisance.”

According to the police chief’s report, the agency responded to 619 calls in 2022, up from 533 in 2021. Adult arrests numbered 29, with 16 sent to the prosecutor. Another three juvenile cases in 2022 also were sent to the prosecutor. Traffic stops tallied 236, and 163 citations were issued.

Several of the serious calls last year were a man shooting a gun in city limits, which resulted in a tense standoff. A rape investigation was sent to the prosecutor for charges, as well as another serious sex offense investigation.

Police responded to a serious domestic case with a knife attack, a barricaded suicidal subject, missing juveniles who were gone for 24 hours and a property deemed a nuisance, according to the report.

Referring to the trailer park, Paris noted the city’s fire department has responded to multiple calls in that area, including a bomb threat. “You don’t go there and not pay attention, let’s put it that away.”

The nuisance complaint will allow law enforcement and the court to deal with the owner, not just the occupants, officials said. Several steps are involved in the process.

The city council unanimously approved a provision for a vicious dog review by the mayor, so those cases can move forward to the court. The previous ordinance lacked specifics on how the legal process could proceed, Paris said.

Cowdrey spoke in support of the updated law, saying a vicious dog bit a child while he was mayor, but nothing could be done because of the former law on the books.

An $850-flat fee for building permits that require an engineer’s review on projects valued $100,000 or lower was given the green light.

Charlotte Tuttle and Elaine Nagel, both of Asotin, offered to stuff envelopes on a volunteer basis next time the entire city needs to be informed about something of major interest, such as the status of the old city hall on Second Street.

Tuttle said she lives a mile away from the building, but would’ve appreciated a notification from the city when meetings were held on the subject. The planning commission ultimately vetoed a conditional-use permit for the current owner to use the downtown building as a residence.

“I’m really interested in my city and other people in my neighborhood, too,” Tuttle said.

Sandaine can be reached at kerris@lmtribune.com.