Over at the Rush - WL City Councillor Tom Barr raised concerns around senior staff salaries at WL City Hall, as follows: (Story to be aired at 4pm today - listen at 97.5 FM on your local radio or listen online at http://www.therushfm.ca and click on "Listen Live" at the bottom of the website page)
Management salaries at Williams Lake City Hall are about to jump a lot higher than originally expected.
Last week we told you those salaries were scheduled to go up 2% April 1st. However we’ve now learned that three of those salaries will go up 13%.
Williams Lake City Councilor Tom Barr says the increases will go into effect April 1st.
Barr says one of those positions will not only see a 15% boost in 2011 but an additional 6% jump in 2012.
Barr says he was the lone councilor to vote against the measure during an in-camera meeting last month.
He says he believes senior staff are hard working and deserve a raise but says with economic times so tough he couldn’t justify supporting a 15% increase.
He says senior staff shouldn’t be shielded from the tough economic realities citizens in this area are facing.
Mayor Cook's response to this is:
Williams Lake Mayor Kerry Cook says senior management at city hall deserves every penny they get.
That was her reaction to Councilor Tom Barr’s opposition to a 13% salary increase for three to four senior members of city staff.
Cook says council agreed last year to the pay increases and also says they agreed to compare staff salaries to municipalities of similar size.
Cook says that exercise revealed three to four management positions were significantly below average and required a salary catch-up.
As for Barr’s criticisms Mayor Cook says everyone on council has a right to view their opinions and says as Mayor she values all points of view.
As for me - I must say that Williams Lake City Hall Staff do work hard but I don't believe, given the economic times, they deserve between 13-21% wage hikes over the next year and I certainly don't think taxpayers' in Williams Lake got a 13-21% hike in their wages. This is a case of Staff saying what they want in their pay and WL Council being totally unable to say no. Especially considering the state of small business in Williams Lake (empty stores downtown and in Boitanio Mall). I'm now curious - do City Councillors Geoff Bourdon, Natalie Hebert, Surinderpal Rathor, Laurie Walters and Sue Zacharias feel the same as their colleague, Tom Barr?? They should...if not, they may find that they could receive a frosty response from City taxpayers' as they go doorknocking for re-election this fall
Finally - consider Friday, it will be 8 months when the Municipal Council of Williams Lake for the 2011-2014 Term officially takes over, it can't be good when a City Councillor (Tom Barr) reveals something as serious as a vote on Staff Salaries from In-Camera and what impact this will have on Kerry Cook's plans for a 2nd term as Mayor of Williams Lake and that of the sitting 5 City Councillors for their re-election bids (note - Natalie Hebert is not seeking re-election in November)
If I was John Dube from the local IUOE and I saw senior City Managers get between 13-21% in wage hikes, I certainly would ask for a "substantive" wage hike for unionized employees as their contract with the City expires July 1st, 2012. Councillor Tom Barr says the City has handed Mr. Dube and his IUOE colleagues a "loaded gun" for next year's negotiations
7 comments:
All of council voted for that benchmarking policy.
Staff didn't vote for that policy. council did, and now the city is implementing it.
How does underpaying a civil servant fill empty businesses?
"However we’ve now learned that three of those salaries will go up 13%".
Do you think we're stupid?? Talk about poor journalism...the actual salaries and increases were released clearly and plainly. Any person who can do math would see immediately that some increases were more than 2% and, LO AND BEHOLD, it even said so in the reports themselves that some would increase more and the exact reasons why (All of which were approved by City Council).
Give me a break!
Who ever posted the last comment should really learn to respond appropriately. Are you going to level the same hostility towards the Tribune who reported the same thing, or the radio for that matter.
I was not aware that the intial wages of the managers were posted with the increases. Were they? If not then we couldn't have done the math. So are you now saying that had we done the math we could have stopped it?
I personally do not question a raise as much as I do the amount. Two percent is what the Union received that should have been it. Also I agree with the question asked in the Tribune, what communities were the wages compared to, post those so that not only can we do the math but we can see what it was based on. This seems to be an strong example of a disconnect between City Hall and the community.
I am also surprised at the first comment made in that "Mayor and Council voted on it". They did not randomly pick wage increases out of their hat. It was based on a report brought forward by staff and if COuncil had of voted it down then there would have been concern by staff that Mayor and COuncil does not value them. To me staff (in particular the CAO) should have had a better read on the community. Mayor Cook is correct in that the staff work hard and deserve to be paid but this is just a little over the top considering the economic environment. Waaay too much of a disconnect.
Why did the first commentor need to blame someone else, why did they need to deflect the approval on to Mayor and Council. I might wonder if that person isn't trying to get this Mayor and Council into hot water. Staff needs to be accountable for the report.This type of deflection seems to happen a fair bit in Williams Lake. However there doesn't seem to be alot of accountability of late.
To attack the blogger for wording is not the most rational thing. I appreciate the blogger for bringing things forward for discussion. I do not know him and often question his comments but to attack him for his blog is not respectful.
Lastly why do these things always come down to Mayor Cook vs former Mayor Nelson.
Former Mayor Nelson governed with HIS COUNCIL and based on staffs recommendations. This Mayor and Council are doing the same thing unfortunately it has been to the tuned of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Really what is good for the goose should be good for the gander.
Staff don't make the final decision. Council does. It's not deflecting. It's the way it works. Council could have said no, we don't approve, come back with something better. They didn't, and they approved it. All of the responsibility is ultimately theirs. Staff can't pass these things. Only council can.And only council is ultimately accountable to the public.
Commenter #2 is bang on.
The union has received 3% each year for the past 4 years, not 2%. That's more than 12% total because it compounds.
Well if comment #4 is correct then lets get rid of Mayor and Council.
Question,did management get any increases (through restructuring, top ups or what ever other way) when the union got theirs? What an insult to compare this to the union workers.You can not compare the two units.
I wonder what management would have thought if Council rejected the proposal...would they have been as protective of them...I think not. So again for the commentator above who is trying to defend the "deflecting" comment ask yourself this how could Council have won in this situation. I just find it bizarre that it is always someone else who started it all. Example, it was the Manager of Human resources who submitted the report on the per diem...and approved by the "whatever" committee...now it is Mayor and Council who were responsible.
Do these statements mean that anyone at the City can ask for anything and can do what ever they want and noone monitors it. If the comments here are any indication that is what is happening so why do we have a City Manager? I do not mean to be disrespectful but just asking the question. I honestly do not see how the Union can be denied an increase in per diems because of the timing and the poor economical climate then immediately after Mayor and Council (save one) approve such a one fell swoop of a raise to management.It was done in poor taste and comes across as totally insensitive. Maybe the managers should offer to hold off the raises until the economy turns around. Put that before Mayour and Council.
I just don't get it. If I were the union I would be furious. If I were the community groups who were denied grants or taxpayers who have been paying more and more for services I would be furious. I guess the above commentator is correct and that it is Mayor and Councils fault...we should vote them out...sad but true.
As for the shot at the blogger...was that really necessary?
The "shot" appears to be at the Rush Radio Station. It is their quote that is used and slammed.
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