You don‘t respect us enough, say councillors

Ron Seymour  The Daily Courier 2011-05-17
Citizens don‘t appreciate how hard Kelowna councillors work on their behalf, some elected officials suggest. While the job has historically been seen as part time, some councillors say they do far more than the legal minimum of attending the Monday and every-second Tuesday evening meetings. "This community needs to be aware that we are putting our heart and soul into this job," Coun. Michele Rule said Monday.  Sometimes, Coun. Charlie Hodge said, he‘s up at 3 a.m. working on his own business, a communications company, so he can spend time in the day and evening on council-related duties.  "It (being a councillor) is not really a part-time job if you want to give it the respect and work it deserves," Hodge said.  Mayor Sharon Shepherd said she‘s often at City Hall seven days a week, and also attends numerous other meetings, committee gatherings and community functions in addition to her daily duties.  In tribute to Shepherd, Coun. Graeme James said she "lives and breathes Kelowna."
The unusual scene of councillors all agreeing on one thing - how hard they work - unfolded in response to a suggestion from a citizens‘ volunteer task force that the elected representatives not be given a salary increase for the next two years. Speaking for the task force, chairman Len Pelland said council should show "leadership" given the unsettled local economy and forgo a scheduled salary increase linked to changes in the Consumer Price Index.

Shepherd currently earns just under $90,000, while councillors earn $31,000, with all their salaries being one-third tax-free. Six of the nine members of council are also on the regional district board, where they earn a further $14,000, with one-third of that salary also being tax-free.  The salaries for Kelowna‘s elected representatives have increased  50 per cent since 2000.  After two hours‘ discussion on the volunteer task force‘s recommendations, council voted to defer a decision on whether to accept its recommendations for a two-year pay freeze, followed by an adjustment in 2014 linked to the CPI. Councillors said they wanted more detailed information on how their salaries compare with those drawn by their counterparts in similar-sized B.C. cities.  "I really would like to see the comparables with other cities and see if we‘re in the ballpark," James said. "I‘m not looking for a big increase or anything, but it would be nice to see where we sit compared to other cities of similar size."  One chart shown to council indicated that a review of other B.C. cities - including Coquitlam, Saanich, North Vancouver, Nanaimo, Victoria, and Prince George - suggested the average pay for mayor was $92,000, and $34,000 for council. It wasn‘t clear from the chart if any of those salaries were tax-free.  At one point, Pelland tried to make the point that comparisons between Kelowna and cities in the Lower Mainland were perhaps not perfect, given the differential costs of living.  But Shepherd cut him off, suggesting that the main consideration should be the size of the municipalities, not local factors relating to the economy.