City OKs council pay raises with slim majority

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD

andy.blatchford@transcontinental.ca

Beaconsfield city council narrowly voted themselves raises Monday amidst mixed reaction from vocal residents.

For more than 90 minutes, a passionate debate between councillors and citizens consumed the city’s regular council meeting.

In the end, the mayor and three councillors voted to boost council salaries by close to 20 per cent. Three councillors raised their arms against the increases.

The mayor’s salary will rise from $25,066 to $30,000 — the annual non-taxable expense account will stay at $14,018.

Each councillor will earn $10,000 instead of $8,355. Their non-taxable expense accounts will jump from $4,178 to $5,000.

“It’s not as simple as you think to run a city,” Mayor Bob Benedetti told the chamber before voting for the increases. “I personally think we’ve done a pretty good job so far. The job is more difficult than it was years ago.

“I believe the council deserves an increase.”

Even with the raises, Beaconsfield’s council salaries are lower than neighbouring municipalities with comparable populations.

Residents who filled the room were also divided over the hikes.

The Beaconsfield Citizens Association presented results from a two-question survey that was delivered to hundreds of residents.

BCA president Karin Essen said close to 90 per cent of the 424 respondents disagreed with the increases.

However, Benedetti and some of the councillors disputed the questionnaire’s validity.

“In my estimation, the Beaconsfield Citizens Association has not identified a problem that existed . . . you have created an issue,” councillor Karen Messier told Essen. “What is this barrage of constant negative criticism?”

In a twist, Messier founded the BCA before she ran for council in fall 2005.

“The goal of this association is to find out where our tax dollars are going and to make sure the council isn’t frivolously spending all kinds of money on what the majority of the population doesn’t want,” said BCA president Karin Essen. “We’re not here to constantly oppose you.

“Just because we live in a bedroom community doesn’t mean we’re asleep.”

BCA secretary Larry McKinnon recommended that councillors consider five-per-cent raises instead.

“Leading with 20 per cent is not the way to lead,” he said.

The majority of those in attendance opposed the increases, but a handful of citizens voiced their support.

“Nobody likes it when a politician gets a raise, that’s just the way it is,” said Bob Luxenberg, a Malcolm-Beaton Street resident. “We have people here who are putting their rear ends on the line — their hours, their convictions and passions — to try to make a better city out of this.”

“It’s a buck a person per year that we’re talking about.”