Trail city councillors have decided against giving themselves a two per cent increase in their stipends, despite a majority on council previously indicating their support for the move.
Last month council voted 4-3 in favour of the first three readings for the increase, retroactive to Jan. 1, but no one was willing to make a motion for adoption when it returned to the agenda this week. Normally it is a formality.
Corporate administrator Michelle McIsaac said as a result, council will just stick with its current pay.
The increase would have meant another $789 per year for the mayor and $371 more for each of the six councillors, for a combined increase of just over $3,000.
However, Mayor Lisa Pasin suggested council forego the increase as a goodwill gesture to taxpayers in light of the hefty legal costs the city has incurred as a result of two code of conduct investigations.
Councillor Robert Cacchioni, who was among those who initially spoke in favour of the increase, said in an interview he did not favour adopting it given how decisive the matter had become.
“If you can’t have all council together on a simple issue like that, it shows you the depth of not being able to work together,” he said. “No, I’ll let it go and that’s it.”
Cacchioni said he supports an increase, particularly for those with child care or elder care expenses, but didn’t want to fight over it.
“Everybody’s just tired. If there was a motion to go one way or the other you might have ended up with another brouhaha.”
(Later in the same meeting, however, there was another dust-up when Cacchioni introduced a motion of non-confidence in Pasin.)
In an email, councillor Carol Dobie said she had a change of heart because they reviewed their budget after voting on the stipend issue.
“Budgets are never easy as we always try to keep increases as low as possible or none at all for the next year,” she said. “In view of the upcoming tax increase, I felt that it would be a good gesture to refuse the increase even though it is such a very small amount.”
Dobie said she wished Pasin had brought the matter forward for discussion before the budget review.
In an interview, councillor Colleen Jones, who was ambivalent about the increase but voted to support the first three readings, called council remuneration “a touchy subject.”
She said it’s important to get younger and more diverse people on council, and the stipend shouldn’t be a barrier. She hopes the matter will be revisited, either by the present council or the next one, to be elected in October.
As for why she didn’t support adopting the increase, she said she didn’t feel council was ready.
“Council wasn’t completely committed to it. I think we need to sit down and have a full discussion about this. The Union of BC Municipalities is looking at a process to do it fairly and equitably.”
Jones also said she didn’t think that linking the stipend to council’s code of conduct investigations made sense. She said she has not received much feedback on the issue of council pay, except from those who feel that politicians are generally overpaid or are unhappy with the present council.
“Being a city councillor is 24/7 and there are lots of expenses incurred doing the job,” she said. “I think we need to put [an increase] forward in a positive way so the public understands why it’s important.”
Jones previously mused about establishing a committee to look at the issue, as has been done in many other communities, such as Grand Forks. She also said Trail’s incoming city manager might have some ideas on how to handle it.
However, she added, the salary has to be a secondary consideration to doing the job.
“You can’t be there for the money. You have to be there because you want to make change or do work for your community on behalf of the citizens.”
Councillor Eleanor Gattafoni Robinson, who also previously supported the increase, has not yet replied to a request for comment.