To the editor:
I read the article about Summerland Council Pay and got the distinct impression the report was implying council was being overpaid. I hope that's not the case.
When you consider the average number of hours most on council are called upon, a $39,000 per year salary for the mayor comes up short in every way.
I think that works out to be about $3,300 per month and with 50 hour work weeks it works out to about $7 per hour.
Next, have a look around at other communities and see if any work for free. Probably not. Would you?
As citizens of the best place on earth to live, we've decided we want many good things to happen in our community from new roads to libraries to senior housing and so on.
It doesn't just appear, it has to be run through a myriad of regulatory processes and often put before you the citizens for approval.
None of this planning and management comes for free. In fact I'm a little embarrassed some of the salary levels are so low.
If I truly thought that paying a reasonable salary to council was too much then I suppose my only choice would be to run for office and if elected, I could always work for free.
Well, that isn't going to happen so we're back to paying others a reasonable salary to manage our community for us.
Sure it's a good thing to keep an eye on expenditures but let's be fair about how they are reported.
Steve Crout
Summerland
