Last week Federal Way Mirror editor Carrie Rodriguez disclosed that the city’s highest paid employee — Mayor Jim Ferrell’s Chief of Staff Brian Wilson — has been seeking to supplement his city salary of $147,888 with an additional $82,524 in retirement income.

This news may have come as a surprise to some city employees and certainly the public at large. However, the City Council should have been aware, as Wilson was already receiving two retirement benefits from the city, one of $6,000 in a 401(a) retirement plan and the city was also paying part of his $19,620 in deferred compensation.

Wilson has sought the retirement benefits from the Law Enforcement and Fire Fighters (LEOFF) Plan for his time in the Police Department. He was denied the benefits by the state Department of Retirement Systems on two occasions and is appealing again. While Wilson is entitled to his appeal, based on the record to date it seems unlikely a different decision will be made when the verdict is announced in January.

But the bigger problem for City Hall may be a political one. Fair or not, and it might not be fair, but citizens will judge Wilson’s salary and benefits against the backdrop of City Hall political actions and community standards, and could become an issue when Ferrell and three members of the City Council are up for re-election in 2017.

Federal Way is not a wealthy community and the average annual income is approximately $40,000. Over half of the students that attend Federal Way Public Schools receive free lunch based on income criteria. This is also a conservative community that doesn’t like taxes, or high salaries for public employees. There has already been a division among the citizens about priorities and City Hall spending. The city just broke ground on the controversial Performing Arts and Events Center priced at over $30 million dollars. They spent $8 million on buying the former Target building. After a lengthy process, the city finally put up some money toward a homeless shelter at $50,000 this year and $50,000 next year. But that still left the project $30,000 short, and again raised questions about priorities.

Can you hear the comparisons being made by voters, or future candidates for office?

But then add the reason Wilson’s request was turned down. He requested retirement benefits because he was retiring as chief of police. The state rejected his request because they said he wasn’t really retiring. He was changing jobs to be chief of staff.

Retirement systems are for retirees, and the state Legislature has tightened the rules on retire rehire positions to avoid double dipping after several high profile cases resulted in public outrage. Could this shine additional attention on the issue when the Legislature convenes in January?

Ferrell, Wilson and Wilson’s attorney maintain that no decision on Wilson becoming chief of staff was made prior to Jan. 1, 2014 when Ferrell officially took office because Ferrell had no authority to make an agreement. However, the state maintains that a deal was made in December and points to a press release from the city announcing Wilson’s appointment and internal documents from the city attorney and Human Resources director to verify the deal and supply support for the state’s decision. They believe Wilson took an unpaid four-day break in service before starting his new job and that does not constitute a retirement. And the mayor-elect’s authority? If the mayor-elect says in December that he wants a particular event, such as a hiring, to take place in January it is going to happen. And it did.

The law allows former police and fire officers, many of whom retire at a younger age, to collect their retirement and still take another job elsewhere in government. The key phrase being “retire.” Had Wilson been retired for an extended period of time the state might have allowed the double dip. But four days doesn’t really look like a retirement.

Wilson and his attorney say a city staff person talked to the Department of Retirement Systems and that they were following the rules as prescribed. To a point, that may be true, but did the city staff person disclose all of the particulars, including the four-day break? If they had, the state would have told them Wilson wasn’t eligible. Also, nowhere in the documents does the city identify the state employee who was contacted. If you were the city, documenting “who” you talked to on Wilson’s behalf would seem like an important piece of information. However, after the first denial, when all the facts were known, it might have been more prudent for Wilson to drop the appeal.

The public may not always understand the particulars of the retirement system, but they do understand numbers and they are likely to view Wilson’s current package, let alone his desire to add another $82,524, as extravagant and out of step with community expectations of public salaries.

Mayor Ferrell backed his chief of staff as you would expect. He really doesn’t have much choice, as he was part of the decisions. But the public has already started to weigh in, as the story went to the top of the “most read list” at the Mirror overnight.

Most citizens will be afraid to criticize Wilson, Ferrell or the situation. But how will the rest of the local politicians react?

Federal Way resident Bob Roegner is a former mayor of Auburn: bjroegner@comcast.net.