Facing A Re-Election Fight, Steve Novick Is Taking A Pay Raise for the First Time

City Commissioner Steve Novick Portland Bureau of Transportation

It's the first day of the city's fiscal year, and Commissioner Steve Novick is getting a fat raise.

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After passing up three years worth of cost of living adjustments (COLAs) to his salary while his colleagues enjoyed them, Novick this year has finally elected to accept his maximum paycheck. The result: a more than $10,000 pay bump. As of today, he's getting paid $114,254 per year, like other city commissioners. His salary had been locked in at $103,521, and his office told the Mercury in May he hadn't decided on whether to change that.

Novick's reasons for turning down the yearly pay bumps have varied. Several years ago, he cited a steep budget deficit the city faced at the time. Last year, in an email he sent reporters, Novick wrote he'd forego the COLA "at least until the voters have had a chance to give me my evaluation next year!"

Portlanders haven't yet officially signed off on Novick's performance. He led all candidates in the May 17 primary election for his seat, but failed to get more than 50 percent of votes. That means he'll face bookstore owner and housing advocate Chloe Eudaly in a November runoff. (He's changed up his campaign staff for that contest, Willamette Week reports.)

In an email to the Mercury about his decision to accept the raise, Novick didn't touch on his "evaluation" reasoning. Instead, he laid out a lengthy list of issues and efforts he's grappled with in the past year. Those include:

•pushing a 10-cent-per-gallon local gas tax

•shepherding Biketown, the 1,000-unit bike share program Portland will launch later this month

•fighting for more staffers at the city's 911 bureau, which Novick oversees

•establishing a new charge for helping build out "unimproved" city streets

"I concluded that in light of this record, it is reasonable for me to be paid the same amount as my colleagues on the Council, rather than $10,000 a year less," Novick wrote.

Hit the jump for Novick's full rationale.

In deciding whether I should agree to be paid at the same rate as other commissioners, I took stock of my own efforts in this past year. Here are some of the issues I’ve been involved in:



• The voters approved my proposal to establish a local revenue source for street repair and traffic safety. Something like this has been needed for nearly 30 years. • I persuaded my colleagues, in the budget process, to address staffing shortages in 9-1-1 (BOEC), making a significant investment in this vital (but often overlooked) public safety bureau. • I have continued to support PBEM Director Carmen Merlo’s efforts to better prepare the city and its residents for disasters. Among other accomplishments, we won a $500,000 grant from FEMA to help Portland homeowners retrofit their homes so that the homes will survive an earthquake. • We are about to launch BIKETOWN, an innovative bike share system that – unlike many other systems – will NOT involve taxpayer subsidy of operating costs. Thanks, Nike! • We established a discount parking garage permit program for low-income workers who work late shifts downtown. • We have established a rational process whereby developers will pay for street improvements. In the

old system, we often let developers of new houses avoid paying for any street improvements; or we required street improvements that did not make much sense – such as floating “sidewalks to nowhere.” Now, developers will pay into a fund that will be used to make meaningful street improvements that are community priorities. Support The Portland Mercury More than ever, we depend on your support to help fund our coverage. Support local, independent media with a small monthly recurring contribution. Thank you! • This fall, TriMet will upgrade service on 122nd, largely as a result of my obtaining funding (both in last year’s budget and through the gas tax vote) to make safety improvements along that route. • On housing and homelessness, I have joined with my colleagues in successfully lobbying the Legislature to lift the ban on inclusionary zoning, committing nearly $30 million to housing and homeless services in the 2016-17 budget, and passing the construction excise tax to pay for more affordable units.



I concluded that in light of this record, it is reasonable for me to be paid the same amount as my colleagues on the Council, rather than $10,000 a year less.