Attorney’s disputed pay raise not just reinstated, but increased

EVERETT — Snohomish County Executive John Lovick’s administration has reinstated a controversial pay raise for an attorney who oversees parts of the public defense system.

Sort of.

Lovick agreed last month to rescind Sara Bhagat’s 21 percent pay hike, after a majority of the County Council suggested it was illegal under the county code. Soon after, Lovick’s office raised Bhagat’s salary again — this time by 25 percent, using a different method. Her current annual compensation of $108,124.92 is about $3,000 more than what she had been earning since last year as administrator for the county’s Office of Public Defense. The new salary is retroactive to Dec. 31.

County Councilman Ken Klein called the maneuver “inappropriate and wrong.” He said the amount of the raise was unfair to the county’s nearly 2,800 other employees, even if it adheres to the letter of the law.

“Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s right,” Klein said.

While the rhetoric might be heated, it’s an issue that state auditors recently said needs attention — and from people on both sides of the dispute.

The disagreement is the latest turn in a year-long dispute over raises awarded to some of the county’s highest-paid managers. It was a sticking point during budget negotiations this fall, when the council revoked 10 percent raises for a half-dozen managers under Lovick’s authority: Deputy Executive Mark Ericks, human resources director Bridget Clawson, parks director Tom Teigen, facilities director Mark Thunberg, budget and systems manager Brian Haseleu and controller Sharyl Raines.

Lovick’s administration has defended the pay increases as a way to make Snohomish County competitive with other local governments when it comes to recruiting talent. Some raises also were necessary to ensure that women managers are paid salaries equal to men in similar positions, Lovick said.

Little effort was made to balance out pay under Lovick’s predecessor, Aaron Reardon. For most of Reardon’s nearly 10 years as county executive, the human resources director was the only woman in his administration entrusted with overseeing an entire department.

Reardon also often selected his managers from a small pool of political allies. Brian Parry, a former Reardon campaign manager and building industry lobbyist, quickly rose from Reardon’s office assistant to become, by age 30, one of highest-level administrators in county government. Under Reardon, Parry was paid $115,000 a year and had responsibility for oversight of key functions, including the planning department. After Reardon resigned, Parry remained on the county payroll, and still works on special projects in the public works department for about $96,000 a year.

Though Bhagat received her raise before the 2015 budget was adopted, council members say they didn’t learn about it until January. Lovick has said her name was included in an October report listing employees whose jobs had been reclassified at a higher pay grade.

County managers like Bhagat are paid according to a table with 18 different pay ranges. Within those ranges are 15 smaller pay increases called steps.

The human resources department, which is under Lovick’s authority, can approve step increases without going through the council. That’s what Lovick’s administration did to boost Bhagat’s pay the second time around.

Bhagat’s initial raise was granted at a higher range. A majority of the council has argued it wasn’t allowed without the council’s approval. They produced three separate legal opinions from county attorneys suggesting that their interpretation of code is right.

The executive’s office counters with the conclusion that the state Auditor’s Office reached this month, after a regular review of the county’s books. Auditors recommended that county lawmakers clarify the procedures to grant manager raises. They “found conflicting interpretations of the applicable codes.”

On April 23, Lovick wrote a memo saying he would roll back Bhagat’s salary to her original pay range, even though he believed the raise was awarded properly.

Bhagat did not respond to opportunities to comment for this story. The daughter of U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, she has been leading the Office of Public Defense since October 2013, after rising to the top of a competitive hiring process vetted by a multidisciplinary panel. Critics of her raise have taken pains to note that they’re not challenging her competency.

She oversees an office that includes seven employees that administers grants, conducts pretrial screenings and is responsible for providing information to help the court set bail.

A separate, larger organization called the Public Defender Association handles most of the actual trial work under contract with the county.

The association’s attorneys would be unable to do their jobs without the services provided by the Office of Public Defense, said director Kathleen Kyle, who praised Bhagat’s performance. Kyle credited Bhagat with automating the office and adapting to complex legal requirements for representing indigent defendants.

“She really hit the ground running, in the sense that she had experience working as a public defender,” Kyle said. “She also, as an administrator, got up to speed quickly and made some improvements quickly.”

Bhagat had been earning $86,574.60 until November, when Lovick’s human resources department boosted her pay to $105,175.80. That raise was backdated to the previous April and she received a lump-sum payment for the difference.

In an attempt to resolve the manager-pay issue over the long term, county leaders have agreed to pay a contractor up to $25,000 to determine appropriate compensation. They’re asking for a study that looks at 13 specific positions in an employment category known as “management exempt.” They include the six people whose salaries were rolled back in the budget, plus the Office of Public Defense administrator and six others. Bids for the work are due by June 5.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.