City Council To Lead By Example? Seriously?
Monday, July 8, 2013 @ 3:45 AM
If you want to be known as caring, you lead by example. Well that is unless you are the Mayor and City Council of Prince George.
Today the Council is sitting down to decide how they will extract more money from the taxpayers’ pockets in this city. In this instance the move will not come with an increase in the base tax that you pay but rather with fees.
If you look at the list shown on 250 News late last week you will see where the City hopes to be able to extract some more money from you, which leads me back to my first point. What is Council doing to lead by example if it is the general taxpayer that they hope to tag with increases of up to 52% in the cost of service over the next three years? The answer is "nothing" in fact, they will receive even MORE money for sitting around the Council table.
Let me take you back to 2011 when the Councillor salary was set at one third of what the mayor makes. ALthough the plan was hatched under the previous Council, the policy was given final approval in January of 2012 just weeks after the current Mayor and Council had been elected.
Beginning in 2012 and on each year thereafter, an annual adjustment be applied to Mayor and Council remuneration , effective January 1st of that year , whichever is the lesser of :
A- the annual percentage wage increase applied to City of Prince George exempt staff salaries, OR
b- the average of the wage adjustments for the fourth quarter of the previous year, and the wage adjustment for the first, second and third quarter of the current year for public administration industry.
The Mayor is to receive the same benefit plan coverage of the Prince George City exempt staff.
That the existing benefit plan for councillors be continued unchanged.
That the existing policy regarding vehicle allowance remain unchanged.
That the city provide a lap top .
Finally there is to be a review of the Mayor and Councillors salary (by an advisory committee comprised of members of the public) by the third quarter of the last year of each councillors term. Mayor Green said she liked that idea.
Now wrap your mind around it for a moment. You hand out good increases to administration staff, which then allow you, as a council member, to be able later to receive the same remuneration package as you gave them. Great way to operate. If you increase the benefit package to non union staff don`t worry, be happy, you will see an increase in your benefit package if you sit around the table.
Then to top it all off, when it comes time to have your salary looked at, simply appoint someone you know who will support the notion that you need a raise to withstand the heat your are taking for increasing the taxes and cost of services for the residents of the city. Novel but effective.
So where does that leave the little old ordinary taxpayer, well dig a bit deeper because you are about to pay more, a whole lot more to live in this city . Will the Council and Mayor be affected? Don`t be silly they are covered off with those increases that they voted in at your expense. It’s called "leading by example".
I`m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.
Comments
This fiscal modus operandi is known as the Greek Disease. Governments choose to act with monetary largess for themselves while blissfully ignoring it until a huge tidal wave of *stuff* hits the fan.
And we have the highest paid non union staff budget per capita in BC already.
The new ‘auditor’ of municipal benchmarking I’m sure would love to learn more from our council and mayor to make this modus operandi a provincial standard… using the funny stats to justify expenditures.
I think we mistook Greenâs 10% cut promise in each department. She meant 10% raises for herself and promised to raise our taxes and user fees at least by 10%.
Council should take some time to read some political history. Why? Because they would find out that this kind of tyrannical attitude amongst politicians always ends badly … for them.
Ending badly usually means they get voted out (still collecting something worthwhile like name recognition for future elections) or they leave/get axed with a huge payout and a guaranteed lucrative fully indexed pension…
There is no question that City Staff levels, wages and benefits have to be brought in line. I read somewhere that it costs $47 million dollars just to staff the City.
That being said, all of the City’s facilities (e.g. ice arenas, pools) need to bring up user fees to reflect the increased cost of maintenance. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it must be done.
Ben, you forgot one step on the pay road. Adminstration gives the union staff big raise increase, increase in benefits, and no layoff clause. The reason for that, “we have to give the non union staff the same as the union”. As one retired foreman said, “you go into negoations asking for more than you want as you know you have to give things up yet in the last round they gave us everything without even asking anything from us” he said he couln’t believe it. Now we know why.
007, I stopped believing anything that politicians promise a long time ago! That way one is never disappointed – not expecting anything – and when one of these actors actually does something sensible one gets a warm positive feeling!
Another thing is that there are inescapable increases and there are some that are avoidable! If one changes one’s priorities and refrains from using any of the city’s facilities which charge user fees one has dodged the increases. For the city it is a Catch 22 situation: The attendance will drop, the revenue will decrease and nothing has been gained…soon they will be asking for another increase! Perfect!
As soon as the downtown pay parking comes back I will avoid going downtown altogether, feeling sorry for the businesses there like restaurants for lunch etc.
I’m not sure why some feel entitled to free parking downtown. We tried that experiment and it failed, thanks to downtown employees and shop owners.
It worked just fine for me! I am NOT a downtown employee and I don’t own a shop downtown. I don’t feel that I am “entitled” to any free parking! I went more often downtown and had never any trouble finding a parking place.
One more thing, to put the horse back in front of the cart:
Don’t increase fees first! First review and bring back in line City Staff levels, wages and benefits!
Then there will not be any need to increase fees!
Once the user fees have been increased they will never be rolled back, even if the City Staff levels, wages and benefits have been reviewed and brought back in line – as if THAT would ever happen! Wishful thinking and high energy pipe dreaming!
BTW, what makes THEM think that they are entitled to all that? Talk about entitlements!
PG: “I went more often downtown and had never any trouble finding a parking place. “
Your experience wasn’t like many people, who found the prime spots were often taken for the day after 8:00 a.m.
If you’re not afraid to walk, you could park on the outskirts or a block or two away, but for the most part, parking was a mess under the so-called ‘free’ system.
I think there should be a citizens’ committee set up to oversee any pay increases for any city staff, made up of a broad cross section of society.
How is it that these people can just determine their pay with no justification at all?
The rest of us certainly can’t!
Free parking was great. In fact it is great in a lot of smaller towns. Quesnel and Williams Lake comes to mind. No meters anywhere. Parksville on the Island, to name a few.
Prince George is pre occupied with fleecing its citizenry of its dollars, and they do not have the capability to do things in a sane and cost effective manner.
The new Police Station is an example of costs gone wild. So is the Community System, new office buildings, etc; etc; etc;.
The people who sat around the table at the special meeting of Council to-day. That is the Mayor, Councillors, and Senior Managers cost us somewhere in the area of $2 Million dollars a year for salaries, benefits, and expenses. Approx 20 people.
“Free parking was great. In fact it is great in a lot of smaller towns. Quesnel and Williams Lake comes to mind. No meters anywhere. Parksville on the Island, to name a few.”
Precisely! Spent a day in Quesnel today. Had no trouble finding a parking spot (free) on Reid or anywhere else. Did a fair amount of shopping and really enjoyed the whole scene. The town looks clean and well cared for.
Does a city once it grows beyond a certain size become unmanageable?
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