Are municipal politicians being paid enough?

Kirkland council ponders ramifications of hiking elected officials’ remuneration

Like all West Island municipalities, Kirkland recently went through the exercise of deciding what adjustments should be made to remuneration of elected officials. When the proposed numbers came in, Kirkland council voted. It was not unanimous. During the Nov. 5 council meeting, District 5 Coun. Stephen Bouchard, District 3 Coun. Sam Rother and District 1 Coun. Michael Brown all voted against the raise. “Stephen and Sam both said they didn’t feel right about giving themselves a raise when they had just arrived (one year ago),” Gibson said. “I told them that I understood their position.” Gibson would not comment on Brown’s vote and the councillor did not respond to a request for comment. Gibson said that the people entrusted with the calculators relied on the calculation tool supplied by the Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ) to come up with a number. The tool takes into consideration factors such as population, the presence of services such as an aquatic centre or library, the handling of important files such as a hospital or industrial sector, real estate wealth and whether or not the municipality is located near a sizable body of water, such as Lac St. Louis. “Using that calculation tool, we landed in the $50,000-to-$67,000 range,” Gibson said. “I’m at the lower end of the scale.” The pay hike in Kirkland was 8.5 per cent, meaning the mayor’s remuneration increases by $4,593 to $53,977. He also receives $16,595 — the maximum expense allowance. Councillors’ pay packets increase by $1,613 to $18,956. The expense allowance for a councillor increases by $806 to $9,478. In the past, mayors and councillors were given a stipend that was more symbolic than substantive. Gibson said times have changed and that the remuneration should follow suit. “The role of the mayor today is much more complicated,” he said. “We (demerged cities) have to deal with centre city. It requires leg work. With (Mayor Valérie Plante’s) Projet Montréal, we are dealing with an ideology. In the past, it hadn’t been studied what value should be applied to the hours a mayor spends doing the job and what responsibilities the job (entails).” The file Gibson is losing sleep over these days is the post-municipal election changes made to the proposed urban boulevard — a much-needed north/south thoroughfare in the West Island designed to ease access to the future REM light-rail station in Kirkland. As it stands now, vehicle access would be restricted in favour of buses, pedestrians and cyclists. Gibson is channelling considerable energy into the situation. “Yes, we have to reduce the number of cars on the island, but the West Island is very different from downtown,” he said. “We have to be logical. We have to get the cars to the station so that commuters can use the trains.” Gibson is not alone in his opinion that the job of mayor had become more demanding. Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue Mayor Paola Hawa, Baie-d’Urfé Mayor Maria Tutino and Beaconsfield Mayor Georges Bourelle all have said the job’s responsibilities have heightened. The mayors also agree that part of attracting mayoral candidates down the road involves offering them a decent salary.

The role of the mayor today is much more complicated. We (demerged cities) have to deal with centre city. It requires leg work.