Despite a lot of discussion surrounding penalties for councillors who miss town council meetings, there will be no change.
ìMy motion is that our pay schedule policy be amended so our $1,000 per month base pay be adjusted to take into account missed meetings,î said Coun. Tim Verhaeghe at councilís Dec. 15 meeting.
ìIím suggesting that this take effect immediately and that this be retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year. If a councillor misses more than three regular meetings in a calendar year that their base pay be deducted by $500 for every missed meeting.î
According to the agenda package, the idea for the motion came after Coun. Nichole Adams missed three meetings in a row for various reasons including the flu, an AUMA meeting and a charity casino. This, stated Verhaeghe, didnít sit well with him although, he stated several times that it wasnít a personal attack.
ìItís not a personal issue, I just think we should get paid for the work we do,î he explained.
Adams disagreed stating, ìIf it was anyone else around this table, do you think this would be a topic of conversation right now?î
Coun. Tanu Tyszka-Evans added: ìI think we all have to take into account that there are going to be times when (Adamsí) director status is going to interfere with her council duties. I think this is, quite, honestly a joke.î
Most of the councillors seemed to disagree with changing the remuneration policy, yet again as itís been changed quite a few times in the current councilís two years in power. Particularly when Tyszka-Evansí suggestion to lower the salary during the summer months was rejected.
ìItís the same in principle, because weíre still only doing one meeting that month,î said Coun. Joanne Peckham. ìBut, you (Verhaeghe) made a case as to why we should get that $1,000 base pay because we were involved in so many other things.î
There were also several arguments against the ìgrace periodî of three meeting missed with councillors stating that some things just end up being more important than their ìsecond job.î
ìIf the number of three doesnít jive with people around this table, what does?î was Verhaehgeís rebuttal.
ìIs it four? Is it five? How about 20? Where do we draw the line?î
Coun. Steven Shafer, on the other hand, argued that the councillors should do the job that they were elected for and that nothing ìtrumpsî attending meetings.
ìI generally support the principle of this,î he said. ìWe were elected to be here; letís be here. Letís be open about it and make our decisions on other responsibilities accordingly.î
The Municipal Governance Act, doesnít list a specific number of meetings that can be missed by a councillor. Although it does state that if a councillor misses eight weeks, there are provisions for a governing body to give the councillor more of a grace period.
To Verhaeghe, this just wasnít enough.
ìI just think itís being responsible to the ratepayers,î he said.
Adams disagreed.
ìThey hold us all accountable at the ballot box every election. We all stand on our records then and I have no problem with them calling on me. If they donít like it, they donít have to vote me back in,î she said.
In the end, though, the motion was defeated, with only Shafer, Verhaeghe and mayor Roger Morrill voting for it.
ìAs far as I know, this council does not have an attendance problem,î said Tyszka-Evans. ìThe majority of us are here at every meeting and do make most of our committee meetings Ö I canít support this in any way, shape or form.î
