EDITORIAL – Do Kamloops City councillors deserve a raise in their pay?

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

A BIZARRE RECOMMENDATION in Henry Braun’s report on Kamloops City council’s dysfunctionality this week was that City councillors deserve a raise.

Bizarre because it simply doesn’t fit in with the purpose of his assignment, which was to provide guidance to a council in trouble. As I mentioned after the report was released, Braun suggests councillors give themselves and the deputy mayor pay increases.

His actual wording is this: “Review Council Remuneration Bylaw — Examine the Remuneration Bylaw for adjustments due to increased workload for Councillors and the Deputy Mayor payable retroactively from the workload’s starting point.”

What is he talking about? What workload starting point? What increased workload? He doesn’t say. Since there’s no mention of the mayor’s workload, it’s logical that the idea of giving the councillors raises came through his conversations with them.

There’s nothing to suggest current councillors have experienced more workload than past councillors. His conclusion that they need more money is based on nothing.

Maybe he was persuaded by his own experience — as mayor of Abbotsford, he and his councillors were paid quite a bit more than their Kamloops counterparts. In 2022, the last year Braun was mayor, he received $128,098 compared to Kamloops mayor Ken Christian, who got $103,040. Abbotsford councillors were paid $47,879; Kamloops councillors $41,216.

Lower Mainland municipalities in general pay their mayors and councillors more than those in the Interior but there’s no compelling reason for the latter’s pay to match the former. There’s no shortage, though, of examples in which municipal politicians have given themselves handsome increases.

But to the real point — how would giving councillors a pay raise help with the dysfunction at City Hall? A reward for not being able to get along? At the same time as he recommends a raise for councillors, Braun proposes that the council insert monetary penalties into its code of conduct for members who misbehave.

“Code of Conduct Amendments – With legal input, amend the Code of Conduct to include sanctions for repeated offences, with a structured remuneration penalty. For example: first infraction, 10% reduction in salary, second infraction 25%, third infraction 50%, fourth infraction, 75% reduction.”

He did verbally note that such a clause would have to apply to all members of council, but the subject of his report overall is the mayor.

So, have councillors done such a fine job, and are working so hard, that they should be paid more, retroactively? You be the judge but councillors seem to like Braun’s recommendations, and talk in terms of adopting all of them, so be ready to pay them more.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.