The topic of pay raises for the next mayor and city councillors went to a revote on Monday night and city council decided to move forward with the raises.
The raises would be about 23 per cent for the mayor, to align with MLA salaries, and councillors would see a raise of about 28 per cent.
Coun. Brian Swanson raised the revote because the report said the raises would cost the city an additional $65,000. He questioned where the money would come from.
Coun. Dawn Luhning said she was torn and asked for the councillor's raises to be revoted on separately. When it was voted on in executive council on June 29 she voted in favour of the raises.
She changed her vote to opposed because items such as per diems and travel expenses don't need to be increased.
"I asked Mr. Acker and Mr. Puffalt to not pay me the deputy mayor's salary for the times that we were deep into the pandemic and we weren't allowed to go anywhere. That didn't happen but I did make that request because I knew that we weren't going to be attending any events," she said.
Coun. Heather Eby made an amendment to the travel education budget, asking it to be lowered from the recommended $4,756 to $3,000 in 2021. She said she doesn't expect that there will be much travel in 2021 and it would save the city $10,500 in next year's budget.
She also said that she was on council in 2010 when remuneration talks began and it wasn't easy and the pandemic doesn't make it any easier. Eby added that they should be voting for someone who is worth paying for and if they aren't worth paying for, they should take another look at the candidate.
Coun. Chris Warren was also in favour of the pay raises because he feels that those who sit on council should be compensated fairly.
"I believe the compensation should be aligned with other municipalities of similar size. I understand the intent of councillor not to make money, but to fairly compensate citizens for their time is extremely important," Warren said.
He added that councillors and their friends and families are under a lot of scrutiny and put their reputation at risk and should be compensated accordingly.
Coun. Crystal Froese was opposed to the raises, but not because she didn't feel the mayor or councillors don't deserve it. She felt that we are under uncertain times with the pandemic and can't support it because we don't know what is coming next. She wondered if it could be looked at a year from now and council could take a phased-in approach.
Coun. Scott McMann felt there will always be a question of fairness and it can be seen as not the right thing to do, but he questioned if the large pay increase is because of the fact salaries were too low to begin with.
The mayor's pay raise passed with Swanson and Froese opposed and the councillor's pay raise passed with Swanson, Luhning and Froese opposed.