I’m a strong believer in the old maxim “you get what you pay for,” and I think that is especially true for people who work for you. If you want to fill a position with the best person for the job, you’d better make it is worth their trouble, which is why I never understand people who say that they want the salaries of their elected officials cut.
These are the people who are supposed to be looking out for your interests. I agree that they don’t always do the best job of that and recognize that it is impossible to make everyone happy all the time, but the solution to this problem is not to cut their pay.
If you want better people running for office, than make it worthwhile to run, or at least not prohibitive. Cornwall City Council is considering a $1,536.44 increase to the pay of councillors, or 9.6 percent a year. The reason for this increase, is that the federal government eliminated the tax-free exemption for members of provincial legislatures and municipal councils. Right now, Councillors make $15,579.01 a year, without the tax exemption that drops to $14,427.02.
A report last year described the amount of work the average councillor does during the year. The average Cornwall City Councillor attends two council meetings a month, one a month in the summer, and sits on an average of 10 committees. In total, this adds up to 275 hours of work a year and this is not counting the extra events they go to, grand openings and the like, as well as the time they take to make themselves available to their constituents.
For the record, 275 hours a year comes out to $56.65 an hour. Given the importance of their work, the pressure that comes with making those decisions and the grief councillors get, whether justly or unjustly, from disgruntled citizens I think $56.65 an hour is about the right amount for a councillor in a town like Cornwall to get.
Again, this all comes back to attracting the right person to the job. Now, the ideal person would be one who is qualified, but not doing it for the money, the money is just there to help. A Councillors’ pay is not a salary, but an honorarium meant to ease the burdens of public office. For example, a councillor may have to take unpaid leave from work in order to fulfill some of the duties of their office, and this honorarium is meant to help with that.
Let’s pay people what they’re worth and encourage the cream of the crop to represent us and make the tough decisions.
