The debate Prince George city council had this week over the salary the mayor and individual councillors should receive in the next term was fascinating to watch because at times the conversation flirted with the philosophical question of just what a mayor and council are actually worth.
The 2014 pay for the mayor of Prince George is $94,182, while the salary for a city councillor is $31,394. Council rejected a recommendation of the committee to raise the councillor salary to 40 per cent of the mayor's pay by 2018, which would translate to $37,673. They did, however, approve of a annual wage adjustment for mayor and councillors, indexed to the average Canadian public administration pay hike or the increase given to exempt staff at the City of Prince George, whichever is less. For those keeping score, senior staff at the city did not receive an increase for 2014, just like the unionized staff.
"If someone is really motivated to serve publicly and lose your privacy and who knows what else, the priority should be 'I am there, I am serving the public' and the priority should not be how much money do I make," said Coun. Albert Koehler.
True enough but time is money, they say, and the important work done by elected officials does deserve some compensation. The problem, however, is that too many people don't value that public service Koehler is talking about, a fact recognized by fellow councillor Coun. Cameron Stolz.
"It doesn't matter what you come back with, unless you reset all of our wages to a dollar a year, nobody in the public's going to be happy with it," he said.
Also true to a point but being a city councillor is a full-time job, once all of the hours are added up, stressed Coun. Dave Wilbur, especially in the beginning for a new councillor learning the ropes.
Breaking down the 2014 pay for city councillors, they made $15.09 this year for a 40-hour work week, which is not bad, but it's quite a bit less than the $17.67 per hour, plus benefits, that the Prince George Public Library is currently offering to pay for a new clerk at the Nechako branch in the Hart.
With all due respect, residents angry at having to pay a $1.20 fine for overdue materials are nowhere near as feisty as homeowners having to pay $4,000 a year in property taxes.
While compelling, the argument that elected officials should receive comparable pay to the private sector for their level of responsibilities is wrong. Using that logic, Barack Obama should be the best-paid guy in the world, instead of filing a 2013 tax return of $481,098 ($400,000 for being president, the rest from book proceeds), according to CNN. He could make more money in a few months as a corporate lawyer. Instead, he puts in ridiculous hours at the most stressful job in the world. Why?
Besides the personal gratification of public service Koehler spoke of, the meaningful currency all politicians in all jurisdictions receive is power and influence.
The pay politicians receive should be a fair income for the job they do but it should be low enough to discourage anyone who would want to do it because the pay is decent. Instead, citizens considering running for public office should be looking in the mirror and seeing someone they think could use their power to make good governance decisions on behalf of everyone else.
That's where the value lies, both for the politicians and the voters who elect them.
