I have spent most of the last twelve years being the lowest paid staff of any of the businesses I am a co-owner of. I don’t make decisions based on my own financial gain, but in the best interests of the overall vision in which we are striving towards.
So speaking of my own salary for my role as councilor has a particular awkwardness to it that I am familiar with. I’ve learned that it’s important to be honest about my needs, avoid the virtue signalling through a projected martyr-complex and speak objectively about the way in which a salary enables the person in this position to thrive.
We have a municipal system that desperately needs competent people who take the time to do their jobs well. I can tell you now that my commitment to this job is not dependent on the amount that I am making and that certainly wasn’t the draw to this position. However, with that said, for me to take this job has taken a considerable amount of sacrifice from my businesses, family life and mind space. I think that if we want more people to take these jobs seriously, and then continue to run for these seats, then we need to pay a salary that mitigates against these losses that are inevitable. So I would be in favour of reasonable pay increases that puts Sarnia councilors and the mayor in line with other municipalities of our size. Currently we are quite below the provincial average. Click here for more information on salaries for councilors and mayors in Ontario.