LETTER – TNRD directors had a chance to make a positive difference, and failed

Re: EDITORIAL – TNRD board gives itself a nice fat pay raise fro Christmas

Dear Scrooge:

The TNRD produced the Candidates Introduction to The TNRD 2022 Local Government booklet for all the candidates so all the candidates should have known what the job would entail, the approximate time commitment involved, and what they would get paid and what expenses were allowed for the job.

Anything they were not sure of and wanted more information on they easily could have found out by either asking the current sitting director, or the mayors, or the TNRD themselves. It is called due diligence. Part of your job as a director.

They applied for the position, were elected, and accepted the position.

If they didn’t like the pay or had any concerns of anything to do with the job, they should not have applied for or accepted the job like any intelligent person would do.

This new board had the opportunity to be different, to help make a positive difference in people’s lives. To work on important issues that affect and help shape the future of the TNRD community where people will want to move to and visit because of what we have to offer and our lifestyle, not to just get out of the lower mainland and their high costs. To truly serve the people of their community

Instead, they added to the burden the people already have with the soaring inflation and the cost of living.

Don’t worry, the minimum wage earner and pensioner might be able to get enough from the food bank to eat after already turning down the heat and putting on additional clothes to keep warm. They can always take part in the free Christmas eve dinner; oh, it is already booked up and all the free meals have been spoke for already as there are so many in need.

On the bright side is they will be getting an increase as the B.C. Consumer Price Index. For people collecting the CPP the federal CPI is 4.4%, and for the OAS increase, your increase from January 2023 to January 2024 was 3.7%. Hmm, the property taxes are going up in some areas as much as 9% and for those that rent it will be going up 3.5%.

How did the TNRD do the “compensation benchmarking,” one of BDO’s recommendations in their report, for determining the board’s extra raise, also who did this? I notice in the bylaw this wasn’t mentioned or how it was going to be completed.

I am hoping it was done independently outside the TNRD as I question the accuracy of Amanda Ellison, the TNRD General Manager of People and Engagement, Carla Fox, TNRD CFO, and Scott Hildebrand, TNRD CAO as they all signed off on the report presented not only to the Committee of the Whole but also for the regular board meeting regarding the pay raise.

The report didn’t have the correct bylaw number. There is no By-Law 2711, 2022.

Awesome job!! Attention to detail is astounding. You just voted in a raise based on a report about a study of a bylaw that didn’t exist. You sure showed how you earned that additional pay raise, and also learned from your mistakes with the previous CAO considering three of you were on the board prior to the 2018 elections, and 10 prior to the 2022 election during the time Sukh Gill was the CAO.

I really do not know what the TNRD is comparing their pay to in other districts. I can tell you they are not comparing it to the people they represent.

Compare it to the number of people they are supposed to represent would make more sense. Can’t compare it to population as there is a huge difference in population. Cannot compare it with land area as again there is a large difference in sizes.

The per person comparison would be the one thing for sure all regional districts have in common and then they would be comparing oranges to oranges you know, and I am not referring to the NDP government.

Here is the average pay for only the electoral area directors per person.

THOMPSON-NICOLA	$26.70
FRASER-FORT GEORGE	$22.00
CARIBOO	$18.04
OKANAGAN-SIMILKAMEEN	$11.69
NORTH OKANAGAN	$8.97
NANAIMO	$8.05
CENTRAL OKANAGAN	$7.11
CAPITAL REGIONAL DISTRICT	$6.24
COMOX VALLEY	$4.69

 Here is the average pay for only the municipal directors per person.

CARIBOO	$38.43
THOMPSON-NICOLA	$15.03
FRASER-FORT GEORGE	$10.97
NORTH OKANAGAN	$4.61
NANAIMO	$2.49
CAPITAL REGIONAL DISTRICT	$2.14
OKANAGAN-SIMILKAMEEN	$1.88
COMOX VALLEY	$1.64
CENTRAL OKANAGAN	$1.63

This is the average of all directors combined pay per person.

CARIBOO	$23.14
THOMPSON-NICOLA	$20.59
FRASER-FORT GEORGE	$17.99
OKANAGAN-SIMILKAMEEN	$7.77
NORTH OKANAGAN	$6.31
NANAIMO	$6.03
CENTRAL OKANAGAN	$3.46
COMOX VALLEY	$3.17
CAPITAL REGIONAL DISTRICT	$2.91

If you notice with this method of per person the TNRD, before the pay raises, are at the top of all the regional districts with the electoral directors at the top and municipal directors the second highest paid.

Curious as to why the TNRD spends the taxpayers’ money to go to the UBCM conferences? They obviously don’t learn about or read any of their literature like the Union of B.C. Municipalities Council & Board Remuneration Guide.

“BEST PRACTICE Local governments should consider establishing an independent task force to conduct reviews of elected official remuneration.”

Why did the TNRD not establish an independent task force?

In my opinion it is because if I was on the independent task force I would say NO to the 15% pay raise and follow the bylaw that states it is to the applicable Consumer Price Index just like the minimum wage is, OAS, and CPP.

Take a close look at the TNRD Chair’s remarks: “they’re needed to encourage good people to run, more young people and minorities.” Wait I love this one: “just of the old saying, ‘you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.’”

You could have made the difference and followed the B.C. MLA’s example where BC United Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Stone introduced the motion they unanimously voted for —  a wage freeze for 2023 declining their 6.6% pay increase.

According to remarks from the TNRD Chair, MLAs must be bad people, old people, and not minority people and they all are monkeys, but they are the monkeys that said their basic pay raise will be what the BC CPI rate is back in 2000.

The TNRD had a 19% increase in 2019 and as of January 2024 at 15% increase. Really makes one wonder who the bad people really are.

TNRD isn’t the only one that gave themselves a big raise.  In April 2023 Cariboo Regional district gave themselves a raise that brought their pay to 224% of what it was.

“Chair Margo Wagner said other than the cost-of-living increase there has not been an increase in pay for directors in almost 20 years and the CRD’s directors are the lowest paid in the province by thousands of dollars.”  She also stated that “…none of us get into this for the money…”

The MLAs’ pay increase since 2000 has been set at the rate of inflation, the BC CPI. That has been 24 years now. They have followed the law they set; why do the RDs not, and keep giving themselves more than the BC CPI raises?

Time to be that leader. The one that betters greatly people’s lives and their community.

JOHN JAILLET (a.k.a. Bob Cratchit)