File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: TNRD board gives itself a nice fat pay raise for Christmas

Nov 27, 2023 | 5:55 AM

IT MUST BE CHRISTMAS. The Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) board, elected a year ago, has decided to follow tradition and give itself a handsome pay raise — 15 percent for electoral area directors and eight percent for municipal directors effective this coming January.

However, I notice that a motion approved by the board authorizing the raise neglected to include the amount. Various folks at the TNRD have been unable to tell me how that came about but the intention was 15 and eight percent and I’m sure the oversight will be corrected promptly.

What is clear is that directors also awarded themselves a four per cent hike retroactive to last January, so when the issue of the 2024 raise is straightened out and compounded it will result in a tidy boost indeed.

The raises were initiated by electoral area directors. Some of them — Mike Grenier and Herb Graham, for example — would have preferred a retroactive 6.9 percent for 2023 (equal to CPI inflation) but went along with the four percent.

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There was not a word of dissent around the table as the board approved raises at last Thursday’s meeting.

If you’re wondering about dollar amounts, EA directors will jump from $25,256 to $30,206 in January and municipal directors from $15,135 (on top of what their own councils already pay them) to $17,000.

The chair gets almost double the EA rate and the vice chair will now receive a little over $5,700 above the director rate.

Despite the quick approvals on Thursday, directors did spend a lot of time talking about it at earlier meetings, during which they lamented their expenses.

There’s no shortage of excuses — I mean, reasons — for the board’s generosity to itself. The main one is that they must keep up with the Joneses. Never mind what they’re worth. They looked around at what other RDs are paying their boards and decided they really must catch up.

And they sure have.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.