Taxpayers handed out $707,447 in remuneration and benefits to city council members last year, shows a staff report released on Friday.
Most of that went to Mayor Cam Guthrie who received $152,711 in pay and $14,531 in benefits, along with a $41,412 honorarium and $3,581 in benefits for each of the 12 councillors. The mayor’s position is considered full-time while councillor duties are considered part-time at the moment (that’s under review).
There were 82 council, committee and other formal meetings held last year, down from 99 in 2019, that lasted a combined 168.75 hours.
“There were fewer meetings held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” states the report. “Fewer meetings were held in March and April as city council transitioned to an electronic format, although meetings were scheduled in August (which is traditionally a month with no meetings).
“Committee of the whole was also paused following in March and did not resume until September,” it adds, noting there were two emergency council meetings, held in March and April, in response to the pandemic.
Of the 70 meetings specific to council, committee of the whole and Committee of Management for The Elliot, only two council members attended them all – Guthrie and Coun. Christine Billings.
Councillors Rodrigo Goller and Mark MacKinnon missed a single meeting each, while councillors Cathy Downer and James Gordon were absent for two.
With three absences each were councillors Bob Bell and Dominique O’Rourke.
Coun. Phil Allt missed seven meetings, as did Coun. Dan Gibson.
Coun. June Hofland didn’t attend eight meetings, one fewer than Coun. Leanne Caron.
Attending 59 of the 70 meetings, Coun. Mike Salisbury missed the most.
