Councillors spar over process to award 12.5 per cent pay raises to deputy mayor and budget chair

More money, more problems — even at city hall.

Concerns about transparency dominated debate about increasing the financial compensation paid to councillors appointed to the roles of deputy mayor and budget chair.

Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis and Budget Chair Elizabeth Peloza made their cases to colleagues on the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee on Tuesday, and explained that both roles have experienced increasing workloads, but are slated to receive the same pay as every other councillor this year — $65,137.

“I’m not going to continue to do what is essentially two jobs without some recognition for that,” said Lewis, who also represents Ward 2.

“By no means do I think this council would ever truly [approve] what would be fair compensation for the work of these two positions,” added Peloza, who also represents Ward 12.

In a letter to the committee, Mayor Josh Morgan requested a 12.5 per cent raise to the deputy mayor position ($8,142) and a 10 per cent raise ($6,514) to the budget chair position until the Governance Working Group (GWG) conducts a broader review of council compensation for the 2026 - 2030 term.

Ward 2 Coun. Shawn Lewis speaks during a meeting on Nov. 22, 2022. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)“I certainly would like to compensate people for the additional work that they’re both doing now and in the future, which is why I’ve asked for both your support now as well as your support for conducting a more thorough review of this,” Morgan urged the committee.

Councillor after councillor acknowledged that the additional workload deserved greater compensation, but several expressed concern about the process.

“In order for us to do that in a transparent, fair, and accurate way, I believe that we need to have more conversation about this,” said Coun. Corrine Rahman. “I believe the opportunity to do that is through Governance Working Group.”

The proposed increases were called “ad hoc” amounts by Coun. Sam Trosow.

Coun. Skylar Franke put forward a motion to refer the matter to the next scheduled meeting of GWG in March.

“The deputy mayor and budget chair deserve more effective compensation, but I do think if it’s retroactive, I’d be happy to have the discussion governance group,” Franke added.

The working group consists of 11 councillors and its meetings are less formal than a standing committee.

Its non-binding recommendations are eventually forwarded for consideration to a standing committee and then council.

Councillor Elizabeth Peloza speaks as Councillor Stephen Turner looks on at city hall in London, Ont. on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. (Daryl Newcombe / CTV London)

A compensation review for the next term of council is on the working group’s to-do list, but has yet to be prioritized.

“What this referral will do is ensure that no changes are implemented anytime this year,” said Lewis, who chairs GWG meetings. “Everything will be linked together. There will be no consensus on the terms of reference for each of these individual items.”

“To deny this [pay raise] is embarrassing, truly embarrassing and disrespectful to the people who are working hard,” argued Coun. Peter Cuddy.

The referral to GWG was defeated.

Instead the committee recommended a 12.5 per cent temporary increase to the base pay for each role, unwilling to paying the budget chair position less based only on the mayor’s opinion of the workload.

The mayor doesn’t believe the temporary raises supported by the committee will influence GWG’s more fulsome compensation review in the future.

“Only the members of council decide [council compensation] at the end of the day, so I don’t think what we decide today influences any options on the table in the future,” said Morgan.

Council will consider finalizing the pay increases at its meeting on Jan. 23.