Four elected positions in the City of Langley are up for election this fall, and chief among them is the mayor’s seat.

Before the election in November, the Langley City Council is looking to establish the mayor’s pay for 2016. Currently, McCarthy makes $67,800, including benefits. If they don’t take action, the position’s set pay will revert to the $30,000 established in Langley’s municipal code.

Essentially the issue at hand is whether Langley, with a population hovering around 1,000 residents, should have a part-time or full-time mayor. Previously, the majority of the council supported the full-time salary and having a full-time mayor. Those sentiments remain ahead of the council’s Feb. 26 workshop which will cover a range of topics including the mayor’s salary and future governance, the Cascade Avenue bluff project’s future, possible annexation and sale of the firehouse building.

“This leadership issue is something that needs to be decided in a timely manner to give signals to people,” Mayor Fred McCarthy said. Filing for the elected positions is in mid-May.

“The money wasn’t a big part of the job for me,” he added. “It could be an issue depending on the individual.”

Three council members’ positions will be up for challengers as well. Councilmen Jim Sundberg and Bruce Allen will have to seek re-election for four-year terms, while Councilwoman Robin Black will need votes to finish Margot Jerome’s vacated position for the next two years.

Councilman Bruce Allen, who has been on the council since 2011 and served with three different mayors, said the city needs a full-time mayor.

“I want a full-time mayor,” Allen said Monday afternoon.

“The only thing that’s going wrong with this is if the mayor’s drawing full-time pay but not working full time,” he added. “But Fred’s there full time, eight hours and usually more.”

Since the city’s elected leadership has firmed up over the past six months, plenty of business has been accomplished. Langley stepped back from the pursuit of a funicular and agreed to start over with public input on a host of potential projects to connect people from the marina to the downtown business area. Second Street’s redesign was wrapped, albeit over budget. The Dog House Tavern’s owners — after walking away from discussions with the city — are again working toward renovation and reopening the iconic, historic building on First Street while keeping its exterior look.

“Between him and the council, we’ve improved the economy here,” Allen said of McCarthy, who has worked as a full-time mayor since being appointed in February 2013.

Allen, who also sought the appointment, said he did not think the city council reverting the salary to part time or keeping it at full time would affect who may seek to run for mayor.

“I don’t know why it would,” he said.

Councilman Thomas Gill disagreed in an email to The Record. He wrote that by keeping the base salary at its Langley Municipal Code-established level of $30,000, the city can avoid having a part-time mayor making full-time money. Beyond that, Gill wrote that the council should set a value for the mayor’s office to include an assistant, city administrator or manager and a mayor.

“The council can’t dictate how much time the mayor spends working,” Gill wrote. “We can’t dictate that they are full time or part time. It is my belief that we need to maintain the lower salary level to prevent someone from being elected who will only work part time, but get a full-time wage … This, I believe, gives the city the greatest flexibility, and will serve us best, without making unexpected demands of the budget.”

Not that long ago, Langley operated with an elected mayor who served in a part-time capacity and a part-time mayor’s assistant. The mayor was responsible for the day-to-day operation of the city and managing the department heads for police, planning, public works and finance.

The roles were consolidated by former mayor Paul Samuelson, with the mayor’s office taking on more duties and receiving a higher, city council-approved salary.

That was briefly reversed by former mayor Larry Kwarsick who worked as a part-time mayor and said he would not take the full-time salary.

When the city sought to appoint an interim mayor after Kwarsick, the job posting came with the full-time pay and benefits.

Since McCarthy was appointed in February 2013 and elected in November 2013, he has worked as a full-time mayor, kept regular office hours and received the full salary and benefits.

“My experience is it’s been pretty much full time to do the work,” McCarthy said.

Langley City Council election filing costs are $10, while the mayor’s is $535.32.

An earlier version incorrectly stated the details of a former Langley administration. The council-mayor form of government has always been Langley’s form of government, and the mayor had an assistant before the positions were combined.