Councillors Receive Pay Increase

Did you know St. John's city councillors received a 1% pay increase on October 12?

This increase was originally tabled by council at their April 13th, 2009 meeting when they approved a 2% salary increase effective October 13th, 2008 and the above increase scheduled for this year.

In the spirit of openness and transparency, council should have announced receipt of this latest increase at their October 12 council meeting. Public announcement of this latest salary increase is eerily similar to how we found out about the provincial MHA's receiving their 8% increase.

Council has to improve its communication with citizens.

I look forward to Mayor O'Keefe acknowledging this salary increase at the next council meeting.

Council Members Compensation

The following is the compensation package for city councillors:-

Salary

Mayor...................$97,597
Deputy Mayor .......$45,253
Councillor..............$35,024

All the above attract 1/3 Tax Free Allowance

Each member also receives the following Group Insurance Benefits

- Life Insurance coverage of $100,000

- Accidental Death and Disability coverage of $100,000

- Health Insurance including private hospital, 80% prescription drugs, 80% extended health, $200 Vision care every 2 years, $35 eye exam every 2 years and travel insurance

The first two are paid by the city while councillors have to contribute 4% of the cost of the Health Insurance Plan.

Pension Benefits

Eligibilty: Served two terms and at least aged 55 years.

Benefit: Percentage of base salary as follows:

Two Terms............20% of Base Annual Salary

Three Terms..........40% of Base Annual Salary

Four+ Terms..........60% of Base Annual Salary

Base Annual Salary for pension is 2/3 of salary noted above. Mayor's Salary is $65,065, Deputy Mayor $30,169 and Councillor $23,349

The pension has an annual index of 1.25%

Health Insurance will continue for a councillor upon retirement as long as he/she is a member of the group plan at time of retirement and is an active member of council immediately prior to date of retirement. The city pays 100% of the health premium for those councillors who qualify.

Citizens make Mayor a Millionaire!!!!!

Further to my previous blog I now provide some statistics to explain how generous the councillors'pension plan is.

Based on November 1 salaries a 4-term councillor who retires as mayor will receive a total of over $1,000,000 (ONE MILLION)after 23 years of retirement income. The annual pension is $39,039 and is indexed annually at 1.25%.

A two-term councillor will receive a total of $105,369 for a twenty year period. Annual pension will be $4,670 with a similar 1.25% indexing.

This is very generous considering councillors will not have contributed a cent towards their pension scheme.

Councillors become eligible for their pension at age 55. They also receive a fully-paid health insurance policy when they retire if they have been an active member of the plan while a councillor.

I suggest council should review this plan and my solution is for councillors to receive an in-lieu payment for pension - meaning councillors become responsible for their own plan and the city is not left with a pension liability.

I have sent an e-mail to all councillors asking them how they justify their pension plan and I await their response.

Councillors' Pension Plan

St. John’s city councillor, Bruce Tilley’s decision not to accept his city pension (earned from his previous stint as a councillor), while serving his current term as a councillor, is correct.

City commissioner, Ron Penney, is quoted as saying the city will amend its by-law to ensure a councillor will not be able to receive a councillor’s pension while serving as a councillor. Will this policy be extended to include pension earned as a city staff employee?

While the city is planning to update this by-law, councillors should take this opportunity to review the entire pension by-law. Changes are needed.

First, consideration should be given to the need of a pension scheme, especially one that is a non-contributory scheme. Councillors should be making a contribution to their scheme. Either that, or the city makes a payment in-lieu of pension as part of a councillor's remuneration package and individual councillors look after their own retirement plans. The benefit of the latter approach is the city not having a continuing liability for councillors’ pension. Currently this liability is approximately $100,000 per year.

It is interesting to note that the city’s own employees make a contribution of 7.5% of their salary, to their pension scheme. This includes staff with the employee status of “permanent part-time”. Why is it city employees contribute to their pension scheme, yet councillors, including a full-time mayor, do not?

The time has come for council to explain why it should continue with its current pension plan and why, they, at the very least, should not be contributing to their pension scheme.

Election Results

The citizens of St. John's have had their say.

Unfortunately, for me, the citizens of Ward 3 have decided to have someone else represent them at the council table. Congratulations to Bruce Tilley on his return to council.

The democratic process has taken place and the new council will see, besides Tilley, Danny Breen (Ward 1) and Sheilagh O'Leary (at-large) as new councillors. Former deputy-mayor Ron Ellsworth, and councillors, Keith Coombs and Art Puddister depart from the council chambers.

The new council will be sworn in, in a couple of weeks.

I would like to thank the citizens of Ward 3 for considering me and while not successful, I will still keep a close eye on the happenings of city hall and continue my activism.

Full election results can be found on the city's website

lionelwest.com

I have just set up a new website for my election campaign.

The web address is lionelwest.com

I have addressed issues and provided information on the election and key dates.

I am a candidate for Ward 3

I am pleased to announce that I will be a candidate in the 2009 St. John's municipal election.

I will run again in Ward 3.

The following is part of my press release issued on Monday 29 June, 2009.

"I have maintained and pursued my interest in civic matters since the last election. I attend council meetings on a regular basis and follow the issues by attending public meetings to keep myself informed.

The city needs new voices and new perspectives. I am able to provide both. Citizens have been asking for change and I want to be part of this change.

Major issues facing the city include planning, infrastructure needs, recreational facilities and budgetary priorities. Within the ward I will encourage the formation of neighbourhood committees and assist residents with their concerns on such things as traffic speed, recreational facilities and infrastructure maintenance.

I also want to have the employment terms and conditions of councillors reviewed and updated. I would also seek council support for a citizens’ forum at each council meeting.

Finally, I want to raise awareness of the long-term economic planning for the city and encourage citizens’ participation in civic matters."