Check your file under the category of “you just can’t make this stuff up.”

This past week our city leaders, who are already under fire for raising the utility tax and starting a potentially expensive legal battle with Lakehaven Water and Sewer District, have two new controversies that add to a growing list of problems.

One new building block is a self-inflicted decision by Mayor Jim Ferrell’s administration to not renew the city’s contract with Centerstage Theatre to manage the Knutzen Family Theatre, which is becoming a political problem. The other is an $18,000 pay increase for Ferrell from the city’s Independent Salary Commission that could add to perceptions of “out-of-touch” image problems that may start to undermine public confidence.

The foundation for the city’s image was laid four years ago by building the Performing Arts and Event Center without a public vote, or at least a vote by council members on whether to put the issue on the ballot. Then-mayoral candidate Jim Ferrell had opposed the PAEC for several years, and it was the major difference between he and incumbent Mayor Skip Priest, with Ferrell wanting a public vote.

Once elected, Ferrell never brought up the public vote again. That started to raise questions of city credibility. But the missteps continued, as the PAEC funding plan was flawed by counting too much on the new market tax credits. Residents now face subsidizing the PAEC out of the general fund for an untold number of years. It was more than $600,000 in last year’s start-up and will be $454,000 this year.

The downtown park, while built with non-general fund money, continued the downhill slide with several different stories about its construction and its escalating “adjusted” budgets.

Then as the city’s fiscal condition worsened, rather than take steps to reduce payroll and start making the case for a tax increase to the public in 2016, Ferrell and some council members started blaming issues from a decade ago with a political spin of a “structural imbalance” when they were just spending too much. The city had not raised revenue gradually and had actually used its low tax status as a lure to attract business. That was followed by starting the fight with Lakehaven over the utility tax, rather than seriously exploring other options. Some residents think the question of allowing marijuana shops in the city should be reconsidered.

Then during the 2017 election, with Ferrell and a majority of the city council saying they were opposed to a utility tax, the public assumed the fiscal crisis was over.

However, the ink had barely dried on certification of the election when on March 6, Ferrell recommended the utility tax, which passed the council on a 5-2 vote. The final vote passed at the March 20 meeting with the same vote. It gave the impression that the council wasn’t listening to the 200 people who attended the meeting and the timing, coming so close after the election, further eroded public confidence. Lecturing these citizens for not understanding the city budget made it worse. As a point of information, some of the council members don’t understand the budget either. But when you are trying to win over your residents, lecturing them isn’t the best strategy.

Adding fuel to the fire, Ferrell actually spent taxpayer money on a “Mayor’s Memo” in the Mirror to criticize residents as “pessimists” who held a different position than his. He tried to educate them by telling them that the PAEC and downtown park were funded by dollars that could only be spent for capital projects, which may be accurate. But he didn’t mention the taxpayer subsidy of the PAEC, which is from the general fund and can be spent for needs Ferrell is saying the city can’t afford without a tax increase. Some residents noticed the omission. Not surprisingly, volunteers have been trying to gather enough signatures to force a public vote on the utility tax increase.

That brings us to last week, and one of the strangest and surreal meetings I have attended. Just a few days before the council meeting, Ferrell’s parks staff had advised the local arts group Centerstage that their annual contract for $100,000 to manage the Knutzen Family Theatre would not be renewed.

The city would take back that responsibility and make money by renting out the space rather than spending money on Centerstage. A sizable crowd of Centerstage supporters attended the council meeting to ensure city leaders understood the positive impact the arts have on the community. Many had speculated three years ago that the opening of the PAEC would eventually lead to the elimination of Centerstage, even though they serve different community needs.

Parks Director John Hutton did a good job in a bad situation of explaining that the issue was only fiscal. Many recall that Ferrell tried a similar approach three years ago, but backed off when the phones and email lit up in opposition. And they are lighting up again with more than 660 votes cast in a Mirror online survey and 95.2 percent favoring renewal of the contract.

The audience was then treated to a subplot as the city attorney provided a report from the Independent Salary Commission saying the mayor should get two 7.5-percent increases over seven months, upping his pay from $119,000 to $137,000 by next January. That is an increase of $18,000 per year in a town where many live on service wages, and most of the attendees who help bring arts to the community provide hundreds of free volunteer hours. According to the report, the council will get a very small increase.

The presentation by the city attorney did note that the economic situation of the city could be taken into account if there were serious fiscal issues such as layoffs or a hiring freeze. The city budget was apparently discussed by the commission, which went ahead with the pay raise. However, saying the salary was still low compared to other full-time mayors didn’t help the attendees’ mood.

Also of note: despite fiscal challenges that the mayor and council say they face, they have not instituted layoffs or cutbacks, and while the majority has said they support a hiring freeze, the council has not voted to implement one.

Then both comedy and politics entered the picture. It seemed odd that Ferrell had put the salary report on the agenda because it would draw negative attention to him about his salary. And Ferrell does not like negative publicity.

The answer became obvious as Deputy Mayor Susan Honda, who had opposed the utility tax increase, asked if the council could turn down or delay their pay raise. As deputy mayor, Honda gets input on the council agenda and had requested the staff report be included, baiting Ferrell to see if he would help alleviate some of the city debt by declining his salary increase, as Honda said she would like to do. Ferrell didn’t take the bait. Nor did anyone else. But they should have. Even though the salary commission is intended to keep elected officials out of the process, their action created a significant political problem for Ferrell and less so for the council.

Honda had actually presented Ferrell a major political opportunity to change the storyline in his favor and out-maneuver her by turning down the pay raise. That move would demonstrate his understanding of the burdens regular citizens face. He would also get the added benefit of curbing the anger from the utility tax increase and show an understanding for the plight of the volunteers from Centerstage.

It would have also showed leadership to city staff, who have noticed that his personal staff has doubled from two to four from what former Mayor Skip Priest had. Ferrell missed the chance even though he had to know it was coming. Since the action of the commission is final, all Ferrell had to do was turn down the pay raise by redirecting it as a donation back to the city to support the general fund. Score one for Honda.

Then four council members, likely mindful of the number of voters that support Centerstage and Ferrell’s awkward position, used the situation to their advantage by commenting favorably about Centerstage and encouraging Hutton to meet with them and try and work something out. But they have to be careful. If they save Centerstage, it will raise questions about the true nature of the city’s fiscal position, and if they don’t, they will have created false hopes.

A phased approached might be middle ground.

The day ended with the news that PAEC Director Theresa Yvonne no longer worked for the city. Sources say she was relieved of her duties earlier in the day. We don’t know the reason yet, but it does add more uncertainty to an already chaotic situation in city government.

It seems like a very odd time to make a management change in the most visible city asset that Ferrell and members of the city council have been pointing to as our economic salvation.

Stay tuned.

Federal Way resident Bob Roegner is a former mayor of Auburn and retired public official. He can be reached at bjroegner@comcast.net.

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