Port commissioners seeking more ‘per diem’ days

Port of Camas-Washougal commissioners are seeking pay raises.

Port commissioners John Spencer, Cassi Marshall and Larry Keister expressed their desire to raise the maximum amount of per-diem money that they can collect per year during their meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 16.

“My real concern here is that being a public official is a serious strain on one’s time, and anybody who is still working age really feels it,” Spencer said. “It’s a fair bit of work that is inhibiting our ability to earn a regular wage. … And it was pointed out to me that it’s not necessarily just meetings. When I was on the Washington Port Public Association (WPPA) board, I was doing a lot of desk work, and that can also be counted.”

Currently, the commissioners receive a monthly salary of $350 per month and an additional $120 per meeting (maximum of 96 meetings) per year, but only until they hit Washington state’s per-diem “cap,” which is currently set at $12,228 and “raises every few years per a Consumer Price Index calculation,” Spencer told the Post-Record.

“I think it’s important that we explain to the community that we do run out of (compensation) for a lot of meetings that we (attend), but the work continues,” said Keister, who added that he’s attended roughly 120 Port-related meetings per year for the past several years. “We still continue doing the meetings. I always joke that we should get a ‘Volunteer’ T-shirt in October because that’s when we become volunteers.”

Tacoma, Washington-based lawyer Carolyn Lake, who provides legal assistance to the Port, told the commissioners that Washington Public Port Association (WPPA) statute states that “the per diem is any day or portion thereof spent either in actual attendance at an official meeting or in the performance of other official services or duties on behalf of the district.”

“So it’s pretty broad as far as when you can collect per diem,” she added. “The way that it works is that each commissioner has a default amount given to them per diem, but that per diem amount can’t exceed a threshold that the Office of Financial Management establishes. You get paid per diem up until you hit that amount. I know some Port commissioners in the past have said, ‘November and December are my “free’”months because I hit the cap.’

“But in lieu of that, the commission can (alternatively) establish its own compensation. I know (other ports in Washington state) have established their own amount. It goes into effect for any seat of the three commissioners once an election has passed for that seat.”

Lake also told the commissioners that “there’s no cap on the number of days” they can collect per diem funds.

“Any amount of days that you’re doing work as a port commissioner, you file your per diem,” she said.

Spencer proposed that the Port increase the maximum number of meetings per year that commissioners can collect per diem to 128, thus bumping the “cap” to $15,360 per year.

“The total cap limits the days, so what we’re then talking about is simply raising the cap so that we can fit more days in,” he said. “I will note that I wasn’t able to find any documentation, pro or con, as to how much it helps to recruit and retain good public officials. But there is a gut level sense for me that, at minimum, we should at least be able to be paid for the meetings that we’re (attending).

“I kind of like the system where you actually have to do something and then get paid, and (if) there are public officials that might show up to all their regularly scheduled meetings and do nothing else, I don’t want to pay them any extra.”

The commission agreed to send its proposal to Port staff for further research and schedule a public hearing for October.

“The main point for me is that public service can seriously hamper one’s ability to earn a living,” Spencer told the Post-Record. “I want to make the job less burdensome for whoever follows me.”