Resident questions Windsor council pay hike

By Jennifer Hoegg

The Hants Journal/NovaNewsNow.com

Dave Seeley does not approve of a new pay structure for Windsor’s elected officials. In a lengthy presentation to Town Council March 24, the long-time resident complained about how councillors recently decided their successors’ salaries.

Approved at council’s Feb. 26 meeting, councillor remuneration will rise in November, 2008. Stipends for the incoming mayor, deputy mayor and councillors will rise from $17,500, $9,000 and $8,000, respectively, to $20,500, $13,500, and $12,000. The policy was established after a staff report compared the pay of councillors and mayors in similar sized towns, who fulfill a similar level of council duties.

It is not the amount of pay that is a concern, Seeley said. “I am aware of the long hours that council puts in. I do believe that the councillors deserve fair remuneration.” But the process upsets him. Seeley thinks effort should have been made to inform the public of the issue, because politicians’ pay is “a touchy subject.

“Did council notify the citizens of Windsor that there was going to be a discussion of remuneration?” he asked. “Unless they went online and looked at the agenda, then they would not be aware.“

Windsor CAO Louis Coutinho noted the matter was before council at several meetings, all open to the public. “(Agendas) are on the website for public to view. We thought posting it on the website was a good way to do it. There might be a better way.”

Instead of a comparative study done by staff, Seeley suggests a citizens’ committee should have been formed to set council’s pay.

More conservative

Mayor Anna Allen replied that municipal staff and council are usually more conservative than citizens’ groups. “Citizens have given councils more money and the councils have rejected (their suggestions).”

Allen added that Windsor’s method is not unique. “There are 55 municipalities in the province and most of them are going through the process right now. We took some averages. It wasn’t because it was the easiest way; it was because it is the most practiced way. We feel that it is fair.”

Seeley would still like to see the issue reopened. As a 2004 policy required council to review remuneration in March 2008, he suggested the Feb. 26 decision might be illegal. “If the policy is void and needs to be done again, would public be able to comment?” he asked.

Coutinho replied, “if you go by the letter of the law, you’re correct. I don’t see that it necessarily requires a revisit. We can pose the question to our solicitors.”

Coun. Glenn Robinson added the policy’s intent for remuneration to be set before the town’s budget was finalized. “I don’t think it was anything subversive. It was likely an oversight of the civic wording. “

Seeley also questioned whether council has the moral right to extend health and insurance benefits to its members. Allen pointed out that the province’s Municipal Government Act allows such benefits. Benefits for council have not yet been approved, but staff is looking at the matter.

Finally, Seeley inquired about budget implications of the pay raise. Council invited him to return to upcoming budget deliberation meetings, which are also open to the public.