Chief: Higher pay may be necessary
Twisp’s new police officers — whenever they are eventually hired — could get pay raises next year, as the town must negotiate a new contract with the police union that would go into effect in January 2027.
The Twisp Town Council on Aug. 25 selected two of its members to serve on the bargaining team. First-year council members Rosemary Seifried and Tim McGuire will join Mayor Hans Smith, Police Chief Paul Budrow, Clerk Randy Kilmer and town attorney Jennifer Robertson on the team.
The group will meet with Teamsters Local 760 to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement, replacing the current three-year contract that expires Dec. 31.
The existing agreement includes a pay scale for entry-level officers that ranges from $74,838 to $78,624 in 2026. The scale for officers who come in with previous experience is $79,976 to $85,966.
Budrow told council members last week those numbers may need to go up.
“To get the employees that we need, we’re going to need to go closer towards Winthrop’s pay,” Budrow said.
Winthrop’s two deputy marshals receive $94,474 and $93,232 respectively in annual pay, according to a salary table provided by the Town of Winthrop.
Winthrop Marshal Ty Sheehan will be paid $101,736 this year. Twisp hired Budrow five months ago at an annual salary of $128,960.
In addition to pay raises, Budrow said the town could also consider adding more officers to its ranks, beyond the two who may join the chief by early next year. To justify the additional officers, Budrow cited the “new buildings” anticipated in town, an apparent reference to projected population growth — including the new 72-unit apartment complex expected to open behind Rosauers by the end of the year.
The town’s negotiating team will also need to come to terms with the Teamsters on issues such as benefits and vacation days, Budrow said.
So far, the town’s existing collective bargaining agreement with the police union has had little practical effect. The town has had just one officer operating under the CBA, and he only lasted a month before resigning shortly after Police Chief Jay King was fired in early 2025.
That said, the town hopes to hire two new officers before the end of the year. As many as five applicants for the two vacancies are expected to interview with the town’s Civil Service Commission within the next month, including one lateral candidate with pervious law enforcement experience. That person could start before the end of the year, Civil Service Commission Secretary Heather Davis has said. If a second officer is hired among a pool of four entry-level recruits, they would go on the town payroll immediately but would be sent to the academy before going on patrol next year.
Nepotism concerns
The town council last week declined to vote on a proposal from Mayor Smith to relax the town’s personnel policy on nepotism.
Council members at the Aug. 25 meeting said they needed more information from the mayor before deciding whether to eliminate a provision barring family members from reporting to the same immediate supervisor. Smith was absent from the meeting.
In a memo to the council, Smith said “the Twisp Personnel Policy Manual would limit our ability to consider some well-qualified applicants” for an opening in the Public Works Department.
State law does not prohibit family members from reporting to the same supervisor, and Smith cited an opinion from the Municipal Research and Services Center stating that “it might be considered unfair” to refuse to hire someone based on their relationship with another employee.
Even so, some on the town council expressed concern over the proposed change to the nepotism policy. Seifried said family members on the same crew can create problems for supervisors and other employees.
“I guess I would like to hear from the mayor why this feels so important,” Seifried said. “I think there are some legitimate concerns.”
Poetry plaque
Council on Aug. 25 approved siting a plaque bearing a William Stafford poem at Maves Park on Glover Street. The council also agreed to spend $600 to help cover the cost of the plaque, from the town’s Creative District or parks funds.
The remainder of the $2,000 cost to manufacture the plaque is being covered by Confluence Poets and the Winthrop-based Root.ED Nature School, according to Greg Wright, who spoke at the council meeting on behalf of Confluence Poets.
The plaque should be ready for installation at a temporary location in the park before the nature school and the poetry group host the William Stafford Peace Festival on Sept. 19-20, Wright said.
The plaque will eventually get a permanent spot in the park, but when or where remains unclear after the town learned it did not win a $50,000 grant from T-Mobile to renovate the park with a concrete path, seating areas and a separate space for a rotating sculpture display.
“The funding of that park for any overhaul or any changes, or even basic planting, could be out a ways,” said council member Will Menzies, who presided over the meeting in Smith’s absence. “So it’s hard to lock anything in stone for a long-term location for that (plaque).”
