The City of Mercer Island was incorporated in 1960. It remained separate from the Town of
Mercer Island (which occupied the area now in the central business district) until July 1970.
The City operates under the council/manager form of government. The City Council is composed
of seven members who are elected at large and serve four-year terms. A Mayor is elected for a
term of two years from among the Council Members. To provide the administrative function, the
City Council appoints a City Manager, who is responsible for coordinating all day-to-day
operations and administration.
The City provides general governmental services including public safety, (the City contracts with
outside agencies for emergency medical services), street and trails maintenance, utilities
maintenance, parks and recreation activities, public improvements, planning and zoning, and
youth and family support services. To carry out these activities, the City is organized into eight
departments and 10 boards and commissions. The City also began operating its own Municipal
Court in 2005.
The City has enjoyed a strong financial position for the past 10 years. Property taxes have been
received at predicted levels. Property taxes due to new construction have run ahead of
anticipated levels. The City’s expenditures are budgeted on a biennial basis. Budgeted
expenditures for 2005 and 2006 were approximately $36 million and $40 million, respectively.
The above information is from the State Auditors (Audit Report Search) webpage
2002 City of Mercer Island List of Employees, Job Title and Salary
I made a freedom of information request to the City of Mercer Island for "access to and a copy of the names and salaries of the employees of the City of Mercer Island." Ali Spietz (deputy city clerk) and Wayne Stewart (assistant city attorney) wrote back to me stating that "the City of Mercer Island does not maintain a list of employee names and their related salaries." I then e-mailed some Mercer Island council members
Sven Goldmanis ( sven.goldmanis@ci.mercer-island.wa.us),
Jim Pearman ( jim.pearman@ci.mercer-island.wa.us), and
Susan Blake ( susan.blake@ci.mercer-island.wa.us) and
Mercer Island newspaper reporters Stephen Weigand ( stephen.weigand@mi-reporter.com),
and DeAnne Rossetti ( deann.rossetti@mi-reporter.com) about the apparent lack of names of Mercer Island city employees. Sven Goldmanis responded that "everythings OK", and there was no response from the newspaper people.
If some people e-mailed the above Mercer Island people, about their indifference, it might get their attention.
Here's the freedom of information request letter I sent to the City of Mercer Island.
Here's the response letter I got from City of Mercer Island
Here's the 2nd response letter I got from City of Mercer Island with their staffing classifications list.
Here's page one of the City of Mercer Island staffing classifications list.
I considered the City of Mercer Island staffing classifications list as nonresponsive to my salaries and employees request and sent them the following letter.
July 3, 2002
Ali Spietz Deputy City Clerk
City of Mercer Island
9611 SE 36th Street
Mercer Island, Washington 98040-3732
Dear Ali Spietz,
Thank you for the Mercer Island Staffing Classifications list, but pursuant to the state open records law, Wash. Rev. Code Ann. sec. 42.17.010 to 42.17.350, I write again to request access to and a copy of the names and salaries of the City of Mercer Island employees.
So far, the cities of Yakima, Burlington, Forks, and Mount Vernon have honored such requests. Whitman county, Columbia county and the Port of Vancouver, sent job titles and salaries, but not employees names. I have not pressed them for the employees names, because of the hassle involved for me, but I may in the future. There is a legal case presently going thru the Washington State Court of Appeals, that may define whether all (i.e. Sheriff and police) government agencies have to divulge the names of their employees.
It appears to be uncontested law that government agencies have to divulge the job classifications and salaries of their employees. I will accept getting just the job classifications and salaries of the City of Mercer Island but I would rather have their names also.
I believe that it is important that the public and media be able to know the names and salaries of their taxpayer supported employees. If numerous Ali Spietz relatives and friends have been hired to work for Mercer Island, and some of them are paid exhorbant salaries, how would anybody know? Sometimes, internal gossip and whistleblowing could prevent croynism and nepotism in the hiring and promoting of government employees, but we all know what happens to "whistleblowing" and "malcontent" employees.
If provided the City of Mercer Island job classifications and salaries, I (and the public) will be able to know the number of employees Mercer Island has in relation to it's population, and whether it's number of employees and salaries are higher or lower than other Washington State cities.
Washington State newspapers have detailed information about access to public records at http://www.openwashington.com/
I agree to pay any reasonable copying and postage fees of not more than $30. So far, most local government entities with less than 400 employees haven't charged me anything, although they can charge me 15 cents per copy page, plus postage. http://www.openwashington.com/cost.html
As provided by the open records law, I will expect your response within five (5) business days.
If you choose to deny this request, please provide a written explanation for the denial including a reference to the specific statutory exemption(s) upon which you rely.
Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
Louis Bloom
1498 S. West Camano Drive
Camano Island, Washington
98282
manaco@whidbey.net 1-360-387-9682
Here's the response letter I got from City of Mercer Island on July 31, 2002
Here's the e-mail I sent to Mercer Island councilmembers and newspaper reporters.
From: louis bloom
To: stephen.weigand@mi-reporter.com
Cc: jim.pearman@ci.mercer-island.wa.us; sven.goldmanis@ci.mercer-island.wa.us ; susan.blake@ci.mercer-island.wa.us; deann.rossetti@mi-reporter.com
Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2002 4:14 PM
Subject: Mercer Island employees and salaries
Dear Stephen Weigand(reporter), DeAnne Rossetti(reporter), Sven Goldmanis(councilmember), Susan Blake(councilmember), and Jim Pearman(councilmember):
I made a freedom of information request to the City of Mercer Island for "access to and a copy of the names and salaries of the employees of the City of Mercer Island." Ali Spietz (deputy city clerk) and Wayne Stewart (assistant city attorney) wrote back to me stating that "the City of Mercer Island does not maintain a list of employee names and their related salaries." I have posted my correspondence with Mercer Island at http://www.lbloom.net/xmerc02.html
The cities of Wenatchee, Marysville, Yakima and others have supplied me with their employees and salaries list. I have Washington State, County, City, PUD, State, School District and Port, employees and salaries lists at my website at http://www.lbloom.net Mercer Island is the only government entity that has told me that they do "not maintain a list of employee names and their related salaries."
I am curious about how Mercer Island can keep track of their budget when they do not have such basic information?
If you as a reporter or councilmember asked for the same information, would you get the same reply?
Thank you for your time.
Louis Bloom
Here's the only response I got.
From: Sven Goldmanis
To: louis bloom ; stephen.weigand@mi-reporter.com
Cc: jim.pearman@ci.mercer-island.wa.us ; sven.goldmanis@ci.mercer-island.wa.us ; susan.blake@ci.mercer-island.wa.us ; deann.rossetti@mi-reporter.com
Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 8:57 AM
Subject: Re: Mercer Island employees and salaries
Dear Ms Bloom, Thank you for your email. I am glad to see that our city has complied with your request. I must add that we do not manufacture information we do not have,and the city council does monitor the salary structure for our city. Thank you very much for your concern.Sven Goldmanis, Mercer Island City Councilmember
By clicking on the
rainbow colored square icon, you can see information about the people who
look at these webpages. These statistics report meters are free to
anybody.
