Most members of London City Council voted in favour of a 35 per cent increase to councillors’ base pay next term and additional compensation for the deputy mayor and budget chair positions. However, they stopped short of rewarding Standing Committee Chairs or providing severance pay to colleagues who fail to be re-elected. On Tuesday, political support for the pay hike had softened after several councillors acknowledged receiving feedback from constituents about the recommendations from the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee (SPPC). “A lot of them are very favourable of councillors making more money, the issue that many of them have is the concept that not all of us are carrying the same workload,” said Coun. Skylar Franke as she suggested referring the matter to a meeting in December. Franke’s referral sought information that could have justified a smaller increase to base pay— and a scenario for earning additional pay for serving on a minimum number of standing committees and external agencies. However, Council voted down her referral nine to six. Currently, there is no way to legislate that a councillor work a minimum number of hours each week. Several current councillors have external jobs or operate small businesses in addition to their responsibilities at city hall. Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis argued that the role already requires a full-time commitment, “Each one of you can justify to your constituents how you put in 40 plus hours a week in different ways.” Council subsequently debated a series of recommendations from the SPPC meeting, most of which were based on a report from the Council Resourcing Review Task Force. Coun. Hadleigh McAlister acknowledged the substantial increase to base pay might not be popular with the public. “We have to make the tough call and I’m willing to stand by my decisions,” McAlister told colleagues. “I do, having done the job, recognize the challenges and what’s involved and I do think it warrants what’s been put forward.” Specifically, the SPPC recommendation would index councillors’ base pay next term to the 70th percentile full-time income in London as determined by Statistics Canada ($94,222). But Coun. David Ferreira expressed doubt, “I don’t agree with the argument at all that extra stipend, an extra wage, will actually bring in better talent.” Eventually, Council voted 9-6 in favour of the 35 per cent increase to base pay next term (Peloza, McAlister, Pribil, Franke, Morgan, Lewis, Cuddy, Hillier, Lehman, voting in favour). There was also support for an additional eight per cent increase to acknowledge the workload of both the deputy mayor and budget chair roles ($101,760). However, councillors selected to chair standing committees will not receive additional pay, and they narrowly voted against providing severance pay to councillors who fail to be re-elected. Mayor Josh Morgan acknowledged that voting to increase compensation is not easy for politicians, and they will likely hear more backlash. “People who vote yes today, you’re going to get some nasty emails, right?” the mayor predicted. “But we make decisions around this council table based on the information we get, and trying to make the best possible decision.”
