The proposal to temporarily raise Port Orchard Mayor Lary Coppola’s salary by using lodging tax revenues received overwhelming support on Monday night, with public testimony underscoring the need for a full-time, fully compensated leader to shepherd the town through its expected growth spurt.

“We should be investing our resources in a leader who is devoting his time to building the community,” said Dick Davis, who is spearheading the campaign to annex McCormick Woods. “This approach is bold and aggressive and will be watched by communities all over the state.”

Davis was one of 33 people testifying, all but six of whom favored the proposal.

The issue will be addressed on the Dec, 9 regular agenda, along with the rest of the 2009 budget, and appears to have enough support among the council members for passage.

Coppola has lobbied to receive $20,000 of lodging tax money allocated for the hiring of a tourism director, arguing it’s part of his job as mayor to promote tourism.

Since he is receiving 20 hours of pay for working 60-hour weeks, using these funds would provide a logical way to provide a salary increase.

Coppola is paid the part-time wage of $19,738. He seeks to increase his pay to the full-time level of $62,169, for six months at first.

At some point he hopes the council will make the arrangement permanent, for himself and future mayors.

The expected outcome of the vote is five council members in favor, one opposed and one absent.

Councilman Fred Olin opposes the proposal for three reasons: The mayor agreed to the salary before running, tourism funds should not be used and the matter should be put before the people for a vote.

Before Monday’s meeting, Olin conceded he didn’t have the votes to defeat the proposal, but said he would ask the council to delay the decision, as he will be out of the country on the meeting date.

He made no such request, however, since five council members (one more needed to pass) have already expressed support.

Council members Jerry Childs, John Clausen, Jim Colebank, Carolyn Powers and Rob Putaansuu have all stated they will vote in favor.

Chang, who favors a full-time mayoral salary, is uncomfortable with the proposal and said he will cast an opposing vote.

The council is legally entitled to raise (or presumably drop) the mayor’s salary.

In most cases, the raise does not affect the incumbent and goes into effect after the next election.

Coppola does not want to wait, however. He has put his business on hold and is spending twice the time he expected when he decided to seek the job. Lodging tax revenues provide a natural funding source, since the council already allocated $32,000 toward hiring a tourism director.

“In putting together the 2009 budget, the Finance Committee came to the realization that it would not be able to make up the required difference to fully fund this position in the 2009 budget,” Coppola wrote in a memo. “Since the current mayor already does most of this work anyway, that is a legally viable source for that money, and it will fund approximately six months of the additional pay.”

A dissent came from Heather Cole, who owns a local bed-and-breakfast. While she praised Coppola’s performance during his first year as mayor, she does not believe it should be supported by the lodging tax.

“The mayor deserves a full-time salary.” Cole said. “But it needs to be independent of a tourism director.”

Cole said she applied for the tourism job when it was posted earlier this year but did not make the cut.

“I don’t really care if you hire me to do this,” she said. “We need someone dedicated to that position.

“I’m concerned about the huge increase in salary,” added Jo Anne Hartman, “Now, in a time where people are losing their jobs, we need to ask some questions whether this is the right time to be doing this.”

“When I heard about this I almost had a stroke,” said Mary Felts. “It has always been my philosophy that if you work hard you will get a raise, instead of giving you a raise and seeing what happens. Since I first read about this I have talked to many people, and have not found one who said it was justified.”

Felts’ circle of friends presumably did not include a number of high-profile supporters, including South Kitsap Commissioner Jan Angel (who was not presented submitted a statement), Kitsap Homebuilder’s Association Executive Vice President Art Castle, Port Orchard Planning Commissioner Gil Michael, Kitsap County Planning Commissioners Fred Depee and Robert Baglio, car dealer Craig Quisenberry and Port Orchard Independent Publisher Rich Peterson — all of whom spoke in favor of the idea.

Monday night’s meeting lasted for about 80 minutes, with no other items on the agenda.

The proposal will evolve, since it will need renewal in six months. At that point the council can decide whether to continue the arrangement, find another funding source or return the mayor’s salary to its previous level.

While supporters testified in specific support of Coppola, salary issues will need to be addressed independent of his tenure. To be a first-class city, they say, Port Orchard must have a full-time mayor — Coppola or anyone else.

“We need to become a full-time city with a full-time mayor who will take progressive action,” said real estate developer Richard A. Brown. “This is the right step to accomplish this.”

The next meeting is scheduled for Dec. 9 in the Port Orchard City Hall council chambers.