Mayor, council get raises.

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, February 24, 2026

The mayor and city council members received raises this month.

At a recent Oak Harbor City Council meeting, Human Resources Director Emma House submitted a report that explains the city’s Salary Commission gave a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment to Mayor Ronnie Wright and Oak Harbor city council members. The report was presented as a formality, and no council action was required.

Beginning this month, the Salary Commission set the mayor’s compensation to increase from $11,250 to $11,531.25 per month, which is equivalent to $138,375 annually. This salary includes medical, dental and vision benefits consistent with eligible non-represented part-time employees, excluding the high-deductible health plan.

At the same time, council member compensation is set to increase from $1,200 a month, to $1,230 per month, or $14,760 annually, with matching benefits.

Two years ago, the majority of council members initially expressed surprise and questioned the process in which the Salary Commission, whose members are appointed by the mayor, handed him a salary increase from $60,000 to $135,000 a year. The commission later gave the council members salary increases too.

The Salary Commission is required to meet at least once each calendar year to review pay and benefits for the mayor and council members, according to the salary commission report. Throughout two meetings in January, the Salary Commission gathered input from various parties to determine the appropriate pay for the public servants.

Salary Commission members reviewed data from the Association of Washington Cities salary information from 2023, compensation and health care benefits from cities with comparable population sizes in 2025, and the cost-of-living adjustments that are applied to city bargaining units and non-represented employees. They also took into account that a new workshop meeting every month is added to the council members’ and the mayor’s schedule, House said.

Councilmember Bryan Stucky humbly accepted his raise.

“I always squirm when this topic comes up,” he said. “I’m glad to see it at the percent as opposed to a large raise.”

Stucky noted that if there is strong opposition from community members, he will “happily return the raise back to the city,” he said.

Councilmember Barbara Armes added that she has already been saving the city money. She has never taken any benefits since she has been on the council, she said.

The new wages set by the Salary Commission will be added to the city budget automatically without additional approval.

Before retiring in December, Jim Woessner, a former council member, argued that the council should reconsider having a Salary Commission since the process puts budget decisions into the hands of people who are not elected and risks nepotism when elected officials’ friends or acquaintances are appointed.