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Tacoma City Manager Eric Anderson sent an e-mail to council members this morning telling them he doesn't believe now is the time to increase his salary.
He asked them to pull a resolution from the Tuesday council agenda that would have raised his salary 14.5 percent over the course of two years.
The move would have raised his salary from $200,450 to $215,779 this year, and raise it to $229,611 next year. Anderson also receives a $6,600 car allowance.
Anderson said he's heard back from a couple council members who said they understand the decision.
"I presume they will" pull the item from the agenda, Anderson said.
Anderson said he made the decision last night after talking about it with his wife "for quite some time." Although the City of Tacoma is in better financial health than many other governments, Anderson said it was better "fiscally and symbolically" if he did not receive the raise right now.
"If I'm going to be in a position to lead this organization this year and next, I need to be able to do that," he said. "I wouldn't be if I accept this now." Anderson said earlier that he planned to give half of the raise to charity.
Mayor Bill Baarsma said he spoke with Anderson about the decision, and expressed his appreciation -- both for the decision to forgo a raise, and for decisions Anderson has made that have put Tacoma in relatively good shape financially.
Baarsma said public reaction to the proposed raise was fairly strong and intense following an article in The News Tribune.
"This has become an issue, a big issue," Baarsma said. "We have many, many challenges facing us. I think the last thing the city manager wants is to become a distraction, and have his salary be a distraction."
Tacoma does not have a hiring freeze in effect, and there are no plans to cut city services or lay off employees.
Council members discussed the raise during their Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday. They were supportive of the move then, even though they realized it might not prove popular with some taxpayers. Baarsma said the decision was based on a rationale that could be defended.
The raise was intended to bring Anderson's salary in line with other comparable executives following the city's comprehensive pay and benefit comparison.
"Regardless of the justification, it didn't matter," Baarsma said Friday. "This was a visceral, visceral response."
