Salary outrage is because system is rigged
Your commentary on Sept. 8 suggested our outrage at local government pay scales was based on our envy and frustration with our own failures in life. Not so.
I think our outrage is caused and summed up very well by Mayor Lefebure’s comments in this paper’s article on Sept. 6 when he commented: “Local politicians who must approve pay raises, including their own and large pay increases for elected officials are sometimes consider politically unwise. However, it sometimes must be recognized that some local governments are falling behind others in their wages for politicians, which makes it harder to get good people willing to run for the job. In those cases, councils will often request a study that would list the wages and benefits in comparable jurisdictions to help them make decisions.”
The real reason there is outrage is because the system is rigged. All the folks, in local government, elected or staff, are chasing each other, their peer group in local government, up the pay scale ladder and are accountable to no one. The same logic is applied to the hiring of staff. The mayor insists on outrageous pay, that he approves, because it is good for everyone else’s paycheque.
Don Swiatlowski
North Cowichan