Time to pay up

Last week, council was tasked with deciding whether to give itself a ‘raise’. I use the word raise lightly, because an inflation index adjustment is not really a raise. It takes into consideration changes in the price level of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services. This means that technically, it’s only enough to keep a councillor’s pay from becoming worth less.

County staff presented a report recommending an update to their 2020 remuneration in accordance with the Councillor Remuneration Adjustment Policy. According to the report, each councillor’s pay would increase by $467 a year and the mayor would see an extra $934 in his bank account. The entire increase for all of council is roughly $7,000 per year.

Council members currently make less than $25,000 per year. This means a councillor who spends 35 hours per week attending meetings, flipping through hundreds of pages of reports and responding to resident concerns will ultimately be earning less than minimum wage. And to be honest, a 35-hour week is likely light on the time needed to do the job properly.

The result is a council being comprised of mostly retirees or self-employed individuals. The amount paid for this job effectively narrows the field to those with time to kill and a pension income. And these folks are in charge of tackling some big issues and to govern a complex $80 million business.

Before the election, councillor Kate MacNaughton hosted seminars geared toward attracting a younger demographic to the horseshoe. She was trying to enhance diversity in government at the municipal level. The prime barrier for those who were passionate about the community and wanted to run for council was the fact that they can’t afford to take that much time away from not only their lives, but their incomes.

Many will be quick criticize the pay raise, especially since this council started down a path of finding a way to save 10 per cent in efficiencies. But the two aren’t related. This exercise is meant to find ways to better run the day-to-day business. Operational changes and structural changes. Not cutting wages and salaries.

It’s time to pay up and compensate properly for the council positions. And not just a cost of living increase. A decent salary that will attract a younger and more diverse demographic to sit around the horseshoe. Folks in the midst of their career—able to give four years to their community without going broke in the process. Unfortunately, with the status quo, the look of the horseshoe will remain much the same.

corey@wellingtontimes.ca