Kira Erickson reports for the South Whidbey Record from the Langley City Council meeting of May 1, 2023.
Changes in pay for the elected officials of the city of Langley are one step closer to becoming a reality.
This week, two separate ordinances dictating a decrease in salary for the mayor and an increase in stipends for members of the city council passed a first reading, with the majority of the council voting to approve.
Perhaps the most dramatic change, the council is considering lowering the mayor’s annual salary from $55,000 to $12,000. In addition to lowering the mayor’s compensation, the new ordinance also removes benefits for the position.
They Said It
Yet some felt that an annual salary of $12,000 [for the mayor], which amounts to $1,000 a month, was still too low. As Councilmember Thomas Gill pointed out, the job might pay below minimum wage, depending on how many hours a part-time mayor would work.
Councilmember Harolynne Bobis said she did not accept the salary of less than $20 an hour on the island for someone working part-time. She also expressed uncertainty about what exactly the mayor’s duties entail.
[Referring to the proposed monthly stipend increase for council members from $50 to $125,] “It’s just not enough, and I won’t be back,” Bobis said, meaning she doesn’t plan to run for council again.
Mayor Scott Chaplin has already announced that he does not plan to run for mayor this year. Chaplin has spoken out against both changes, saying that the decrease in mayoral salary will discourage qualified people from applying and the increase in council members’ stipends is not enough to cover the cost of child care to attend a council meeting.
On the Ballot in November 2023
| CITY OF LANGLEY |
| City Council: Two of five council positions are on the ballot. Position 3: Thomas E. Gill The Whidbey News-Times reported on May 5, 2023 that Christopher Carlson, the chairperson of the Langley Finance and Personnel Commission, will run for this seat. On Tue., May 16, Kay Kenneweg filed to run for this seat as well. Position 4: Craig Cyr Councilman Cyr filed to run for re-election on Mon., May 15. Mayor Chaplin filed to run for this seat on Fri., May 19. |
| Mayor: Scott Chaplin. Mayor Chaplin was appointed after the resignation of Tim Callison. This election will be for the remainder of Chaplin’s term, which ends Dec. 31, 2023, and the succeeding four-year full term, which ends Dec. 31, 2027. In April 2023, Chaplin announced that he would not run to retain his seat. Councilman Thomas Gill filed his intention to run for mayor with the Public Disclosure Commission on May 6, 2023. Kennedy Horstman, a member of the city’s Dismantling Systemic Racism Advisory Group, announced her intention to run and filed with the PDC on May 12, 2023. |
