Kamloops council reaffirms pay raise as of 2015

By: Andrea Klassen Kamloops this week
A second vote didn’t convince Kamloops city councillors to ditch a plan to raise councillor pay by about $10,000 by the end of the next term. Council’s new pay and benefits package, passed in late October, was back on the table at city hall this week as Mayor Peter Milobar used one of his more obscure mayoral powers to call for a second vote on the issue. Under section 131 of B.C.’s Community Charter, the mayor can ask council to reconsider its decision on an issue within 30 days of a vote. With only a few days left before time ran out, Milobar asked council to take another look at the pay plan, which will increase the salary of Kamloops’ next mayor from $74,000 to $86,000 and increase councillor pay from $25,000 to about $30,000 at the start of the next term and $34,000 by its end. “It’s not something I’m relishing doing because it’s not something I think the mayor should do very often,” Milobar said. However, because three members of council — including the mayor — were absent from the meeting during which the pay package was passed, Milobar said many in the community don’t feel there was a clear consensus on the issue, which passed with a vote of 4-2. All three absentees had been critical of the raises. This time around, the new pay package passed by a vote of 5-4, with Milobar and councillors Marg Spina, Pat Wallace and Ken Christian opposed.  No debate preceded the new vote, although Coun. Tina Lane told council she would be supporting the pay increase. Lange voted against the increase in October because she felt phasing in councillors’ raises over three years was unnecessary. “Today I will vote in favour of that stepped one so it is very clear I am in favour of the recommendations brought forward by the community group,” Lange said.