Council appoints new city clerk

By Jeff Pope

Wednesday, June 10, 2009 | 10:46 a.m.

The Boulder City Council appointed Lorene Krumm as City Clerk to replace Pamella Malmstrom when she retires on July 1.

Krumm, the deputy city clerk, will assume full responsibilities the following day at a base annual pay of a little less than $115,500 — a boost of $43,000 from her current salary.

Council members Travis Chandler and Linda Strickland objected to the appointment because they said the bump in pay was excessive.

Chandler said he wanted to research how the salary compares to what others are paying and open the position to a wider search. Strickland suggested finding a midpoint between Krumm’s current base pay of about $72,500 and the higher salary.

“In this day and age with people getting their wages cut and cities cutting budgets, I think this is an opportunity for us to replace some of our higher salaries at a more reasonable rate that is commensurate with our economic situation,” Strickland said.

City Manager Vicki Mayes said the position has a fixed base salary set by the uniformed pay plan the council approved previously. The council could change the plan but that likely would require examining all city positions, not just the clerk, she said.

“There is no range for appointed officials or department heads. There is simply one salary established,” Mayes said.

City employees recently renegotiated contracts in which they accepted cuts to benefits and deferred cost of living increases. Changing the salary for one employee undermines those negotiations, Mayor Roger Tobler said.

“If they knew that we were going to go after positions later on, they may not have agreed to everything that we’ve asked,” he said.

Tobler and outgoing Councilman Mike Pacini and Councilwoman Andrea Anderson approved Krumm’s promotion.