Editor: A mayor is a mayor is a mayor, and a councillor is a councillor is a councillor. All these jobs are exactly the same. They perform the same functions in each municipality. It makes no difference where they are.
Their job is to represent those of us who elected them — the taxpayer, at any and all events or meetings relevant to that representation. They receive compensation for doing their job.
Most, if not all, receive salaries in the area of five to six figures, and yet they expect expenses to travel to and from the events that are part of their job, and they also, as we’ve recently seen, receive an ‘incentive’ payment to attend council meetings and Metro board meetings.
If I was getting paid $700 to spend half a day at an event or function, I’d be there too. Attending these meetings is part of their job as the elected official representing their municipality.
What we need is a generic job description that identifies the duties to be performed, and then we could determine a salary representative of the work that they actually do.
In any other job description, if they were not clearly defined, some of these meetings and activities would be listed under “performs other related duties as required/assigned.” That would capture these meetings, and any other functions that they may have to attend, as a mandatory part of their job.
The fact that the Metro board members turned down a recommendation to get rid of this incentive is just another indication of the total disrespect these elected officials have for the taxpayers who pay their salaries.
D. Atkinson,
Langley