By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: September 16, 2008
There will be no salary increase for Lumby politicians. Council shot down a consultant’s recommendation Monday that remuneration be increased for mayor and council after November’s civic election. Opposition came from Councillors Deb Leroux and Elinor Turrill. “I don’t feel the workload has increased in the last three years,” said Leroux of why she voted against the plan. “We also have to look at the glass plant closing and how many people are impacted, as well as the slowdown in forestry. I thought it would be disrespectful when people are struggling.” Currently, the mayor of Lumby receives $10,500 while each of the four councillors collects a total of $5,500 a year. The consultant had recommended the mayor’s salary increase to $12,045 while the councillors’ remuneration would have gone to $6,381.
Turrill insists that current economic conditions don’t allow for politicians to pocket more.“We’ve upped taxes for people a fair bit and I couldn’t vote for an increase for council. It would be a terrible message to send,” she said. However, Coun. Ben Winters endorsed the consultant’s recommendations. “We put in a lot of hours and with the price of gas, I believe we deserve it,” he said. The consultant based its recommendations on the remuneration of elected officials in 11 other similar sized communities, including Tofino, Ashcroft, 100 Mile House, Nakusp and Ucluelet. “The range of mayor remuneration is from a low of $7,600 to a high of $15,000,” states the report to council. “The mid-point would be $11,300. The average is $12,045.” Lumby has a population of 1,634, while Harrison Hot Springs with 1,573 pays its mayor $15,000. The consultant also looked at salaries for mayors and councillors in other North Okanagan communities. Enderby with a population of 2,828 provides its mayor with $13,690 a year. The other communities have significantly larger populations so their remuneration reflects that. Mayor Eric Foster and Coun. Matt McLenehan were absent Monday.
2 comments:
Love to know what Foster thinks of this. I believe that he was in favour of the absurd increases at Nord. We must also remember that Leroux wants to run for Vernon Council and was not hesitant to get appointed to the film commission and then have a special resolution by Oglow so she could get her expenses paid!
We shall be waiting for Deb Leroux if she thinks she can just jump into Vernon
What are her qualifications to be on the film commission
Selling Flowers?
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