West Kelowna councillors vote for big pay raise
Pay increase takes effect after the next municipal elections
Higher pay will attract better candidates for local elections, West Kelowna city councillors say.
Councillors this week approved significant salary increases that will take effect in January, following municipal elections in October.
“It’s still going to be hard to attract, you know, some of the really best young leaders,” said Coun. Jayson Zilkie. “How do we recruit those people to come and serve our community? Because it’s a big sacrifice.”
The mayor’s pay will rise from $76,203 to $88,240, and councillors’ pay will rise from $25,439 to $30,884.
Coun. Jason Friesen said he thought councillors should also get a higher car allowance than was available.
“Honestly, I think the car allowance is still too low. It’s a full-time job. Full-time employees often have a full car-paid vehicle, and I’m not sure why this would be that much different.”
Higher pay would make it more likely that “a lot of great minds” would be interested in running for council, Friesen said.
A five member citizen advisory panel, selected by the city, had suggested the increases.
They said the higher salaries would bring West Kelowna’s pay for mayor and council into line with other comparably sized cities in B.C.
In the 2018 West Kelowna civic election, two people ran for mayor, while 16 ran for the six council spots.
Zilkie and Friesen were among the three first-time councillor candidates who were elected, with three incumbents going down to defeat.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Friesen said he “didn’t expect any remuneration” when he ran for council but said it was “nice to be acknowledged” with a salary.