Committee votes council a 3.1% raise

An "automatic" pay raise of 3.1% for members of London city council won support Monday from council's finance and administrative services committee.

It was anything but automatic, however, as committee members fretted about whether they deserve a raise and some talked about doing without.

Administration advised the committee that under a council policy, council members, who haven't had a raise since 2008, were entitled to one. The policy calls for a 3.1% hike this year based on the Consumer Price Index.

"If you don't accept this, you are afraid of what the community will say," Coun. Harold Usher said when several members opposed it.

"It's utter nonsense to say we don't deserve it," he said. "We're not getting the proper remuneration right now."

Usher said his workload has increased fourfold since he was first elected and his pay packet hasn't.

But several members said because management staff at city hall hadn't received wage increases, it would be inappropriate for elected officials to get them.

That included Paul Hubert, Denise Brown, Nancy Branscombe, Joni Baechler and Mayor Joe Fontana.

Once they learned city staff saw their first increases in several years in January, they let the policy kick in as planned.

A citizen task force is scheduled to review compensation for elected officials early next year, but Hubert and Fontana felt that should be done sooner. Acting city manager Tim Dobbie was asked to report back in June with a plan to get the review started more quickly.

Under the new pay regime, council members would see an increase in their pay from $31,979 last year to $32,970 and the mayor jump from $99,629 to $102,717. The cost of the raise is less than $20,000 overall.

The plan goes to the April 10 meeting of city council.

In related business, the committee set a limit of $1,000 that members of city council can spend each year on gifts and souvenirs.

Fontana said he was uncomfortable with a cap on spending and the public should determine whether it's excessive or not.

"How you spend it is your own business," he said.

But Baechler said she resents her taxes going for things such as the umbrellas Coun. Steven Orser gives to his residents in Ward 4.

"I don't want one penny of my tax money spent in that manner," she said.

Orser, who spent about $4,000 last year on umbrellas, shirts and hats and other items distributed to his constituents, replied, "I haven't heard any complaints."

"I used my discretionary funds for my ward's benefit," he said. "We're supposed to be fighting apathy."

A proposed cap of $600 was raised to $1,000 after the issue was batted around.

Original Article
Source: lfpress
Author: CHIP MARTIN