The Lewis County Salary Commission convened its first meeting of the year on Monday, April 14, at the Lewis County Courthouse in Chehalis.
The first meeting was led by the clerk of the Board of Lewis County Commissioners Rieva Lester and other Lewis County officials and staff, including Human Resources Director Angie Hodge and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Scott Gripp. The county provided the members of the new commission with the information they will need to fulfill their new office, including the scope of their responsibilities and relevant laws such as the Open Public Meetings Act, which prevents them from having private discussions about salary commission business.
During their first meeting, the three new commission members — Kayla Macewen, representing Commissioner Sean Swope’s District 1; Colby Moore, representing Commissioner Lindsey Pollock’s District 2; and Terry Petty, representing Commissioner Scott Brummer’s District 3 — nominated and appointed Petty as commission chair and Macewen as commission secretary.
The commission also set a date for its next meeting, which will be held at 5 p.m. on May 5 at a Lewis County facility that has yet to be announced.
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners created the newest iteration of the Lewis County Salary Commission by resolution at its Feb. 11 business meeting ahead of the upcoming budget process that begins in September. In accordance with county and state law, the commission members were randomly selected by the county auditor with at least one member representing each of the three legislative districts in the county.
Commissioners tasked the board specifically with making a salary decision for the county commissioners.
“The Lewis County Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials (Salary Commission) is convened in accordance with RCW 36.17.024 for the sole purpose of setting the salaries of the three elected Lewis County Commissioners,” reads the commission overview provided by the county.
Decisions on those salaries will be mandatory provided they meet certain criteria. Otherwise, the salary decision can be sent to a vote by county residents to approve or deny the change.
While the commission has been specifically tasked with deciding the salaries of the county commissioners, Gripp recommended that salary commission members also provide recommendations for the salaries of the other elected Lewis County officials. These recommendations will not be mandatory.
Lewis County first created the Lewis County Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials via a 2001 resolution. The commission was reconvened in 2019 and most recently raised the commissioners salaries by 10.95% in 2023. The increase was decided based on per capita income increases from 2019 to 2020.
The four-year terms of the previous salary commission members were not extended and ended in 2023. The newly created commission follows new guidelines set out by the state of Washington requiring only one member from each of the county’s legislative districts to sit on the commission. Previous commissions had as many as eight members.
