A council seat is no longer a part-time gig, and pay should reflect that, 2 London councillors say
CBC
Two London city councillors say they welcome an independent review of councillors' roles, workload and compensation — one that will for the first time evaluate their jobs as full-time positions, not part-time jobs.
"It really is a 365-day-a-year role that you have to play now," said Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis in an interview on CBC's London Morning on Thursday. "The days don't stop at 5 p.m., they go well into the evening because that's when you can get out and see your constituents. So it really can be days where you're working 12-hour days, five days a week."
As it stands now, London's 14 city councillors each earn a base salary of $65,137. Mayor Josh Morgan's salary is $157,662.
Back in 2009, London's mayor took home $94,648, while councillors earned a base pay of $30,380. In past years, many who served also held down day jobs, ran businesses or were retired.
Since 2021, councillors' compensation has been automatically adjusted yearly by indexing it to London's median full-time employment income based on census data.
"Looking at similar and larger municipalities, some of our colleagues are making six figures," said councillor Elizabeth Peloza.
Both Peloza and Lewis said that with London's population now nearing 500,000, and the city's operating budget more than $1 billion, a council seat can no longer be considered a part-time position.
The work has grown — and both Peloza and Lewis said it's time for the compensation to reflect that after the task force looks at aspects of the job, from workload to compensation.
In January, council approved an extra 12.5 per cent in pay for the two extra roles that Lewis and Peloza currently hold: Deputy mayor and budget chair. It was seen as an acknowledgement that councillors should be compensated for taking on the extra duties.
One idea the task force is expected to examine is whether there should be extra stipends for councillors who chair or sit on council standing committees, or serve on boards of various city boards or commissions.
Lewis noted that right now, the council workload on those boards, committees and commissions isn't shared evenly. And there are more than 50 board seats — everything from the library to London Transit to the Police Service Board — that require some council members on their boards.
Both Lewis and Peloza said it's awkward for councillors to talk openly about increasing their own pay. Under the Municipal Act, city councillors have to vote on all spending measures, including their own compensation rates.
The governance committee recently shared data comparing London's council compensation to other large Ontario municipalities.
The data averaged compensation in the top 10 Ontario municipalities by population other than London.
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