Phase-in

From page 1 ;
Although Mayor Don Bell said he fele an
increase was appropriate, he voted with
Harris, Carolan and Deering-Robb to defeat
Crist’s two attempts to phase-in the
increase.
Crist proposed raising, the district coun-
cillor indemnity to 50% of the mavor’s salary
at the first meeting after the new council
took office in December last year.
The previous council had been unable to
agree on an appropriate raise and left the
new council to deal with the contentious
issue.
Crist’s proposal would have increased a
district councillor’s indemnity from 33% to
50% of the mayor's salary, which translates to COUN. Janice Harris

a whopping $10,000 raise from $19,810 to opposed size of increase.

$29,715.
. The hike, would have catapulted the district councillors’
salaries to the top of the Lower Mainland pay scale, ahead of

Burnaby and Surrey and second only to Vancouver City. 1993.

However, public outrage at the size and timing of the pay
hike, which had never been mentioned during the election,
caused council to back down in January and formally seck the

Pay
issue

By Martin Millerchip
"Contributing Writer
. THE third long debate
-on the subject of a pay
. raise for North _
Vancouver District
‘councillors only pro-
duced approval for a
“Mayor’s report on
‘options for an indepen-.
‘dent wage review ~
process.
- Council generally favored a
: pay raise but remained split on
ow to go about getting one.

"This és a decision 10 one
tan make for you. You have to
make it yourself because the cri-
seria ave political... You have to
know bow much you are worth
to the municipality, how many
hours you want to spend, what
your expenses are and so on.”

Coun. Ernie Crist oppos-
ing the concept of an inde-
pendent review of council
wages. :

"Y don’t need anyone to
come in here and tell me
whether an increase 3s fustified, -
because I think is is.”

. Coun. Lisa Muri also
. opposing the review process.

“This feels right.”
Coun. Muri on the size of
the proposed increase.

"The process is {tke milking
a camel: you know you sare
doing tu get hitked and spit
on.

Mayor Don Bell on the
unpopularity of politicians
_voting, themselves a pay raise.

"We are concerned to pro-
pose a systems of comtpensation
which world be fair and rea-
‘sonable, avoiding financial
barriers to those running for
office but also seen to be fair to
the taxpayers.”

Coun. Glenys Deering
Robb quoting from the City
of Vancouver's recently com-
pleted councillor wage review.

based on the formula to look good at election time.
Council fast received raises of 3.5% and 2% in 1992 and

Crist remained adamantly opposed to any arbitrated formu-
la, labeling it a “cop-out” and predicting it would nor be
adhered to by the politicians.

Wednesday, March 26, 1997 -- North Shore News - 3

opinion of local community associations.
Bur a shirt-sleeve session with the feder- j
ation of North Vancouver Community pee aa

Associations and a series of oral and written You can make a difference. Contact vour local

submissions have produced no clear consen-
sus on the controversial issue. Red Cross branch or call 1-890-668-2866
to make a donation.

Mayor Don Bell said the opinions
expressed could be generally summed-up as: . 5
@ too large a raise, t00 quickly; Canadian Red Cross
9 any raise should be phased in;
Ma fauliy process: council should nor vote
its own pay raise.

Crist compared the difficulty of the deci-
sion to aborung 2 pregnancy but reminded
council there had been no increase “for
many years.” He said council used to have
an excellent formula in the early 1990s for

. setting annual raises based on the cost of liv-
ing, population and other factors. But, said
Crist, some politicians voted against raises

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- has opened her practice in massage therapy
in association with

Jean Y. Mitchell 6.n.2.M.T.
Jili Orendorff, r.a.1.
and Dan Last, R.M.T.

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Peter Cottontail in the Food Court:

Friday - Sunday March 28, 29 & 30

9:30 am to 12:30 pm

Here comes Peter Cottontail, bright eyed and bushy
tailed, delivering Easter surprises, colouring books,
crayons and special treats to kids of all ages. Plus, you
can shop for all your Easter favourites: lilies, chocolate
bunnies, hot cross buns, Easter hams, and of course
hand painted Ukrainian eggs. So, hop on down!
We're Open Good Friday - Easter Monday:

9:30 am to 6:30 pm.

And remember, there’ free parking all day on weekends,

2 hours free with validation on weekdays.

For more information call 985-6261.

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