Is the city of Homer an attractive destination for qualified public sector professionals? Is the city keeping up with its neighbors in providing health and retirement benefits to its employees? How much will it cost to improve the way employees are compensated?

Those questions were pondered by members of the Homer City Council at Monday's Committee of the Whole meeting, after hearing a report from Personnel Director Sherri Hobbs.

Keeping up with the benefits packages offered by other Alaska cities is a constantly evolving and increasingly expensive process, said Hobbs. In 1998, the city's 4 percent cost of living allowance, or COLA, kept pace with Anchorage's Consumer Price Index a measure of the average price of consumer goods. Today, however, the city's COLA has fallen nearly 10 percentage points behind the Anchorage CPI.

What that means for city employees, said Hobbs, is less purchasing power with their income.

The COLA rate for city employees is still competitive with rates offered by Seward and Soldotna, according to Hobbs' report, but in the last year has fallen behind the City of Kenai's 5 percent rate.

The retirement benefits offered by the city have also become outdated, said City Manager Walt Wrede.

"Younger employees often move around a lot and, since our retirement package is not as attractive as it used to be, we need a tool to make it more attractive to come to Homer," he said.

Wrede asked the council to consider allowing more flexibility in the retirement options for employees.

For instance, he said, other cities such as Soldotna and Seward offer their employees the option of accepting less in retirement benefits in exchange for an increase in salary.

Hobbs also recommended a review of the city's job description forms, reclassification of the Planning, Library and Clerk Divisions into department status and exploration of the possibility of contracting out the city's director positions.

She estimated an annual cost of $63,000 to implement these suggestions.

Council member Mike Heimbuch and Mayor James Hornaday both questioned whether it was appropriate to discuss changes in employee compensation in the face of a projected decline in city revenues.

"I don't want to throw water on this, but we've had some pretty grim financial news recently. I don't know if were going to have the money for this," said Hornaday.

"It's my understanding that it's cheaper to keep employees longer than to have constant turnover," replied council member Francie Roberts, adding that many of the proposed changes merely represent a "change in philosophy" and wouldn't necessarily cost the city anything.

On the positive side, Hobbs said, the city's health insurance package is competitive with other cities and, in her experience, more new hires are concerned with that than with retirement benefits.

"That's why people come to the city for less pay, because we offer good health insurance benefits," said Hobbs.

The council did not take action on Hobbs' or Wrede's suggestions at the meeting, agreeing to take the matter up in upcoming budget discussions for fiscal year 2009.

At their Sept. 8 meeting, the council:

* Adopted two ordinances making changes to the city's ethics code. The first, Ordinance 08-24(S-2), combines the Conflict of Interest Code with the Code of Ethics, creating the new Conflicts of Interest, Partiality and Code of Ethics. The second, Ordinance 08-31(S), creates a new appointed Board of Ethics, which will have the power to investigate violations, make recommendations concerning sanctions and penalties, issues subpoenas for testimony and conduct hearings. Both ordinances were written and sponsored by council member Francie Roberts.

* Postponed until Oct. 13 a resolution to include a disc golf course at Jack Gist Park. Edan Badalos, member of the Alaska Disc Golf Association, testified that the sport is growing in popularity throughout the state and a new 18-hole course has recently been completed at Kincaid Park in Anchorage. Lou Stewart, chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission, testified that the commission is unanimously in favor of the course. Council member Beth Wythe said that, while she supports the idea of disc golf in Homer, she is concerned about any unforeseen costs.

* Rejected, at the request of its sponsors, a resolution amending the Karen Hornaday Park Master Plan to include plans to construct "recreational enhancements" in and around the park and nearby Woodard Creek. Beth Cumming, of the group Friends of Karen Hornaday Park and Woodard Creek, asked that the resolution be temporarily tabled until a professional planner could be brought in to assess the current plans.

* Called for a special meeting to be held to prioritize the city's list of capital improvement projects. The meeting will be held Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Ralph Cowles Council Chambers at City Hall, and will be open to the public.

* Received a presentation from Bob Shavelson, executive director of Cook Inletkeeper, on the "myth of rigorous permitting." Shavelson said that big projects like the proposed Pebble Mine have allies in the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The Frank Murkowski administration, he said, rolled back environmental protection in coastal areas and paved the way for projects that lack basic permitting. Political influence in resource management, he warned, could have dire environmental consequences.

* Welcomed new city attorney Thomas Klinkner from the Anchorage firm Birch, Horton, Bittner and Cherot, who officially attended his first city council meeting. Klinkner answered a question from council member Mike Heimbuch concerning the recoverability of costs from lawsuits brought against the city by Frank Griswold. He stated there was no legal way to "automatically" recover such costs, and those matters are up to the discretion of the court.

* Postponed until Oct. 13 an ordinance establishing a program for "residency incentive credit payments" to adult residents of the city.

* Heard from Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly member Bill Smith about a new Nordic ski trail system that broke ground on Sunday (see full story on page 13). Smith said volunteers are needed to help plant trees and install new culverts in area.

Aaron Selbig can be reached at aaron.selbig@homernews.com.