Kelowna City Hall

(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)

Hard work, long hours and recruiting new talent were just some of the reasons Kelowna city councillors gave to justify voting themselves a 35% pay hike today, March 25. Councillors will now earn $58,080 per year.

Councillor Maxine DeHart led the charge, talking about being shocked by the number of people who came up to her at a recent Chamber of Commerce meeting she attended expressing their surprise about how low paid elected officials were.

“They said: ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’” DeHart told council. “’We never knew, especially the mayor.’ I had several people who said to me, ‘I make more than the mayor. I can’t believe it, Maxine, I’m shocked.”

She pointed out that it’s not only the time spent preparing and attending council meetings but also the committees councillors sit on and the public events they attend.

Part of the increase is because the councillor’s salary was set at 35% of the mayor’s but they agreed to raise it to 40%. Councillor Luke Stack suggested the time put in is more like 50%.

“I agree with Coun. Stack and I’ll tell you why,” DeHart said. “I looked at my schedule in the last couple of weeks of March and there were very few evenings I was home in two weeks.”

The mayor and council’s remuneration was tied to cost of living increases since 2014 but those have fallen behind to the point that the mayor’s wage was the second lowest (next to Kamloops) of similar and smaller sized cities reviewed in a recent City of Victoria study.

Councillors’ pay was the lowest.

READ MORE: Kelowna mayor and council asked to give themselves a big pay hike

Outgoing City Clerk Stephen Fleming said the results of that Victoria study made him realize that, the longer the present system stayed in place the bigger the pay gap would get, which is why he brought it forward now.

Councillor Rick Webber, who was one of three councillors to vote against such a big increase, said people in the “real world” didn’t get to vote on their own raises.

Councillor Gord Lovegrove voted no, saying he knew what the wage and workload were heading into the 2022 election when he and Webber were first elected to council.

Councillor Mohini Singh also voted no, saying it was too big an increase all at once.

“Yes, I ran knowing the salary I’m getting right now,” long-serving councillor Charlie Hodge said. “I didn’t run because I was happy with the salary. I ran because I love this job and I love this community and I actually think I have something to add to the table.”

Hodge pointed out that a city council is on the job 24/7 so he’s constantly being phoned or emailed or stopped on the street by people with concerns.

“There are not too many other jobs that are out there that, at the end of the day, when you go home, your job follows you,” he said.

Fleming also pointed out that in the Lower Mainland, those cities don’t have water, sewer or garbage issues to deal with because those are handled regionally and none have municipal airports to run.

Mayor Tom Dyas gets a 15% increase to $145,200. 

Dyas pointed out that, even at that, it’s only at the 60th percentile of what other mayors get and is certainly not leading the way.

“We as a council have set a policy that we want to be at the 60th percentile for our staff and we do that to attract excellent staff,” Stack said. “We do it to retain our staff and to recognize the importance of them. So, I think, how can I stand behind a policy that speaks to doing that to our staff then, at the same hand, say that council doesn’t matter? We shouldn’t worry about them. Let them fall behind. Let them work at a lesser fee because they’re in public service."

Stack talked to some people over the weekend who argued that councillors' work should be all public service with no remuneration but others said it was a big important job that needs to be fairly paid.

“If we want the best individuals in these chairs in the future, beyond the time that we’re in here, it’s something that we need to do so, at least, we’re at a par with other communities in this province,” Dyas said.

The increases will take effect once a bylaw change is passed at a future council meeting.

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