To look for the most important controversial civic issues look at city agendas a day or two before the holiday summer weekends when residents head out on holidays.
For the record, while you were swimming with the kids or sleeping in the hammock in the backyard, council pay in the near future was increased by at least 20%.
Council signed off on an immediate increase of almost 2%, a cost of living increase they willingly skipped in 2021. Several councillors expressed reservations about the hike, indicating they would willingly give it to charity.
Council voted to bring in an acting mayor stipend that adds on an average 4% annually to their salary. They are each in the role five or six times annually during the term, according to a schedule we obtained from the city clerk. The demands of the role seem usually negligible at best.
Councillor pay will be hiked about 12.5% in 2026 based on 45% of the mayor’s salary. At 45%, it’s the highest percentage of any city in the province. Every time the mayor’s salary goes up, councillor salary gets a bump. So stay tuned for the mayor’s salary to be reviewed in 2026.
In the meantime, a RRSP retirement benefit – or who knows a gold-plated pension – is also under discussion. Staff are to report back to council, their employer, with their views sometime in the near future.
Cost of living hikes have been in place since 2009 and will continue, with additional increases kicking in at the start of 2025 and 2026.
It’s time to remind taxpayers that three councillors and the mayor also received from $29,000 to $33,000 for sitting on the CRD as directors, according to the statement of financial information in 2023.
Don’t turn to the city to learn that you as a taxpayer will be forking over at least 20% more in councillor pay. After approving these changes council is now on a month-long break from what many residents believe is a part-time job. And, by the way, the Remuneration Task Force couldn’t decide if the job was part or full-time position.
Despite having a large communications department, no press release has gone out informing the public or prominent posting added to the civic website.
Unlike Saanich, Colwood, the CRD and other jurisdictions that have a prominent page detailing ‘council remuneration and expenses’, city residents need to spend an hour searching in a so-called Open Data Portal to find the information. After years of sharing that information with residents, the city has buried the information so it’s very difficult to find.
Isn’t it time to be upfront with taxpayers and give them the details after the outsized pay and benefits for a part-time job are finalized?
I think what we need is a methodology to track the worst performing councillors…they most likely are the ones gorging themselves with excessive salary and benefit increases. With that data we can ensure these people are NOT reelected..
From what I’ve seen, none are deserving of reelection.
Nothing the YYJ council surprises me. They are masters of obfuscation and baffle gab. They are a huge embarrassment to city and to the electorate that cast their ballots for them. The “surveys “ they put out are all skewed to get the results they (council) want – there is never any room for dissenting opinions. I hope that we voters remember council’s actions next election.