Much to her disappointment Councillor Kristi Wells was unable to drum up support for a nearly one-third pay increase for the new council Monday night.
She put forward the eleventh-hour motion at the final meeting of this council’s term. It would have allowed each new councillor to get an extra $500 per month, or $6,000 annually.
Councillors currently are paid $18,000 a year. Members of the next council, with the exception of the mayor, will be paid $19,000 annually.
The request was an effort to help the new council deal with an always-thorny issue: giving themselves pay rises.
Wells said putting forth the idea showed leadership and foresight from the outgoing council. The new council has only two incumbents on the team.
“Sometimes we know the answer and you can step forward on it,” said a disappointed Wells.
She
was asked to withdraw her motion because there was not enough support for it.
Judging
by the looks on some of her fellow councillors’ faces, the request came as a
surprise.
“Where’s
it (the money) coming from?” asked Councillor Caroline Lamont.
Wells
explained there is a surplus in council’s budget every year. This year,
however, a surplus is not expected in that account, municipal information
officer Diana Waltmann said this week.
Councillor
Marianne Wade supported the motion but there was a pause before the other
councillors gathered their thoughts and commented.
All
of them said they recognized the sentiment of the request, however they were
unwilling to support it.
“This
is not the way to make a decision,” said Councillor Nick Davies, the first to
shoot down the request.
Lamont
highlighted the difficulty of their situation pointing to the municipality’s
striking Canadian Union of Public Employee workers who are looking for a $4,000
cost of living increase. That situation has not been resolved since it began
earlier this year.
Mayor-elect
Ken Melamed said he would be willing to take the issue through the budgeting
process with the new council but wouldn’t support it at this time.
“They
will never be able to pay us the value of the work,” he added.
The
issue of council’s pay was discussed earlier this year when a three-person
remuneration committee recommended a $1,000 pay increase for the new
councillors, bringing their pay to $19,000 per year. It was to remain at that
level until the end of next council’s term in November 2008.
The
recommendation came before council in June, less than six months before the
election.
At
the time council accepted the recommendation even though it was met with
disappointment from some councillors who felt that council’s pay not only
limits the number of people who can run for public office to the retired,
financially secure, or self-employed, but it also affects the quality of the
candidates who run.
Some
councillors also felt that they put more hours into the job than what has
traditionally been expected. That situation is expected to ramp up even more as
the Olympics draw closer.
The
salary is based on a 20-hour workweek and some say they spend double that
amount of time on council duties.
Admittedly, some of the workload is self-inflicted said Wade. But as she experienced first hand, her work on council limited her employment opportunities in Whistler as she struggled not to take on jobs that would put her in conflict with her council duties.
Wade also highlighted that councillors are not reimbursed for cell phones and that there is no office or even a filing cabinet for their work at municipal hall.
“I don’t know how you’re supposed to do your job,” she said.
Councillor Gordon McKeever reiterated Monday that he was “deeply disappointed” with the results of the remuneration committee. He added that he started his working career at $1.85 per hour.
“I feel like I’ve come full circle,” he said.
He also spoke of the intensity of the work, particularly the long Monday meetings which can begin at 9 a.m. and stretch until after midnight.
The day after one of those marathon meetings he said: “I feel like sitting in a bubble bath and reading a comic book.”
In the end Davies proposed a middle ground, that council recommend to the next council an immediate review of their remuneration, as well as immediate implementation of the results of that review.
“The next council needs to have the courage to do what’s right,” said Davies, adding that it will be easier for them with this council’s support.
Though they were accused of being a dysfunctional council throughout their term, they agreed on the middle ground Monday night and the final comment of the night came from Councillor Lamont who quipped: “Did we just work as a team?” /span>