Condon criticizes misleading reports on his salary

Mayor David Condon is fighting back against misleading attacks, claiming his salary, at $169,000, is exorbitant compared to that of Tacoma's mayor, which is roughly $88,000.

When Condon rolled out his proposed budget earlier this week it included returning the mayor's salary to $169,000 a year. Former mayor Mary Verner turned the salary into a political card when she lowered the salary to $100,000 in the name of saving the city money during the budget crunch.

But since his budget was announced there have been some misleading reports about the nature of his salary in comparison to Marylin Strickland, the mayor of Tacoma.

The problem is the comparison is between apples and oranges.

Tacoma, on the other hand, has a council - manager form of government, similar to what Spokane had at the turn of the century when John Talbott was mayor and Bill Pupo was Spokane's city manager. In the council - city manager form of government, the city manager runs all of the operations of the city and his decisions are checked by the city council.

When Talbott was in office in 2000 he made $36,000 while the city manager made more than $100,000 a year, city spokesperson Marlene Feist said Friday afternoon.

Mayor Strickland, who doesn't have the same powers as Condon has here in Spokane, is more akin to a city council president. In that respect, if you compare Spokane and Tacoma's leadership, Condon is more comparable in terms of his office and salary to Tacoma City Manager T.C. Broadnax.

When you compare those to individuals, Condon gets paid $169,000 while Broadnax gets paid more than $230,000 a year.

"They have a mayor, ceremonial and otherwise, who sits on the council, so I'd ask people to look at that, so if you're trying to put apples to apples there are other positions out there. Ultimately, this is a contract I have with the city of Spokane."

Mayor Condon added the salary is determined by the city charter, so if people want it change they can work to help change it.