Vancouver City Manager Eric Holmes received a $17,502 pay raise Monday after the city council unanimously voted to reward his performance in his seventh year on the job. The raise brings Holmes’ annual salary to $239,052.
City councilors gave Holmes glowing reviews, and no one at the meeting voiced opposition.
The city council hired an independent contractor, Dick Cushing of Waldron HR., to give a report on Holmes’ performance. The $4,000 report listed 29 accomplishments and three things that could have gone better during Holmes’ time as city manager.
“The list of (suggested) improvements compared to (Holmes’) accomplishments — they don’t compare,” said council member Ty Stober at the meeting.
City Councilor Jack Burkman said Cushing met with council members individually and as a group to discuss Holmes’ performance.
During the assessment, Holmes also compiled a 12-page document assessing his own performance, and in it he listed his accomplishments and shortcomings.
Council members said Holmes got the raise to also better align his salary with those in similar positions in the public and private sector.
Burkman said Holmes plays the role similar to that of a CEO, saying that compared to many in those private-sector positions in Clark County, Holmes earns less. Burkman said the CEO of Vancouver-based Nautilus, Bruce Cazenave, made nearly $1.1 million last year with bonuses, and that Cazenave manages fewer people than Holmes does.
In the public sector, city managers in cities similar to Vancouver earn close to Holmes’ new salary. Tacoma, a larger city than Vancouver, pays its city manager more than Vancouver was paying Holmes. Yakima, which is smaller than Vancouver, pays its city manager less. All three cities subscribe to a council-manager type of management structure, which gives the city manager more power and responsibility than other types. The city manager is the only person that the council hires and controls wages for. Seattle and Spokane do not follow that model.
