There's an irony that percolates into life sometimes: Just when you're most deserving, it's the worst possible time to claim your reward.

This is what's happening to the Liberty Lake City Council and mayor right now, not to mention many residents impacted by a downturn in the economy. We are working harder than ever, longer than ever and are being more creative and efficient than ever - just to maintain the status quo. If there's a pot at the end of this rainbow, we may just have to be satisfied if it's serving up Campbell's soup.

Much has been made about the planned raises for the mayor and City Council that are set to go into effect in 2011, and in light of the economy, it does seem like an unnatural time for the change to be made. And it is.

But it's worth mentioning a few things first in defense of the city officials who would benefit.

1. They have never been given a raise - not since the incorporation of the city.

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2. They went about it the right way, putting the number-crunching in the hands of an appointed salary commission to examine the pay, look at comparables and recommend adjustments. It's impossible to remove it fully, but this helps take away some of the stigma from a public body having the power to give itself a raise.

3. The raise is a small amount - from $3,000 to $4,800 annually for Council members and $9,000 to $15,000 for the mayor. All of these folks are working enough hours that the pay will still reflect the sacrificial "public servant" nature of the job should the increases go into effect.

The city has done nothing wrong to date, and the raises aren't even finalized until the 2011 budget is passed with the pay adjustments intact. And that's where the city needs to step in. Sure, a savings of $18,600 - which would be the additional revenue required to fund the raises - isn't a lot (it's only 2.5 percent of covering the projected $700,000 shortfall), but postponing the raises to 2012 would be a symbolic gesture by city officials that they understand the sacrifices necessary and are committed to doing everything possible to maintain services by cutting costs.

Are the raises warranted? Yes. But the timing isn't. An added benefit of waiting to 2012 would be that some of the elected officials benefiting from the raise will have faced re-election by that time. When dealing with public perception and appearances, "mid-term" raises are worth avoiding as much as possible anyway.

We don't envy the mayor and Council. There's no easy way to make this decision. But in this case, it's worth postponing until 2012.