Councillors defend 2007 expenses

Morning Star June 14

Coldstream taxpayers paid their mayor and council $107,366 in wage and expenses in 2007, but two councillors led the pack in expenses. Coun. Glen Taylor led the council with the highest expenses of $6,720, and earned a salary of $11,840 for a total of $18,560. Taylor said he “was probably the only one that attended all the conferences last year,” including the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) conference in Vancouver, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Calgary, and the Southern Interior Local Government Association conference in Vernon last year. “I’m a firm believer in (the conferences),” said Taylor. “I will continue to go, so my expenses will probably continue to be on the higher range compared to those who don’t attend these things.” Coun. Mary Malerby followed Taylor with expenses of $6,705, and earned a salary of $13,946 for a total of $20,651.

Malerby said since she is retired she has the most free time to go to conferences and report back to council. She has been to Kelowna, Penticton, the UBCM, and other conferences around the valley. Malerby is on the library committee, which she said requires a lot of travel. She added that conference registration fees are quite high. “Sometimes it is the cost of doing business. If you want to stay a vibrant community you have to know what is going on, and participate in it.” Mayor Gary Corner had expenses of $2,587, and earned $23,219 in salary for a total of $25,806. He attended the UBCM conference as well last year. Corner believes the most probable reason for certain members of council to have large expenses is because they attended conferences last year. “Sometimes what we do will send one or two councillors to conventions somewhere rather than everybody,” said Corner. “Usually it is the ones that can afford the time to go.” Coun. Jim Garlick had expenses of $751, with salary of $9,075 for a total of $9,826. Coun. Carol Williams had expenses of $132, and salary of $10,523 for a total of $10,655.
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Don Quixote Note: Coldstream Salaries for Staff and Council has full report for 2007 and 2006. Vernon Council and Staff Remuneration for 2007 available at this post.