Possible pay raises and updated job descriptions for St. Albert city councillors are on hold because they can't agree on when the changes should happen and how much they should be paid.
Council's standing committee of the whole (SCOW) voted on April 11 not to implement an increase in council's salary or have a council seat be considered a full-time role. The recommendations presented to council came after seven months of work by the citizen-based council remuneration review committee.
The recommendations to increase council's salary from $58,587 to $70,000, and have the position be considered a full-time role, which were verbally supported by all seven elected officials, was recommended to come into effect after the next municipal election. However, an unsuccessful amendment put forward by Coun. Sheena Hughes and supported by Coun. Shelley Biermanski and Coun. Wes Brodhead would have implemented the salary increase this summer.
“If the recommendation is to say that this is the salary it should be, then you just have to rip off the band-aid and say this is the salary it's going to be,” Hughes said during debate.
“This council needed to show leadership and they have failed,” said Brodhead. “I can just see what the strategy is around the election in 2025.”
Following the defeat of Hughes' motion, Coun. Ken MacKay put forward a motion with the initial implementation date of 2025 after the next municipal election; however, MacKay's motion also failed when Coun. Natalie Joly voted against it.
MacKay and Coun. Mike Killick said they supported the salary increase after the next municipal election to avoid having to vote on their own salary.
“I'm totally supportive of an increase starting next term,” Joly told the Gazette after the vote. “But that is just too low — $70,000 for a full-time job on council is not reflective of what's required in the role.”
Hughes and Biermanski did not respond to an interview request.
In an interview, Mayor Cathy Heron said since all members of council were supportive of the two changes, she expects the topic to come up again in a future council meeting.
“It's not over yet,” Heron said. “I think there was a lot of confusion and my council is smart enough to understand that process, but it will go to council at our next council meeting.”
“It might be very clumsy at council, but I'll do my best to manage it.”
Heron added she felt the salary increase for council members was less important than the recommendation to make a council seat a full-time position.
“I do believe that if you were to look at the number of hours that certain members of council put in, it's well over 30, probably even over 40,” she said. “It's a lot of work, it's a lot of reading, and ... it really is almost impossible to have any other kind of job.”
Other than the salary increase for council, the remuneration committee also recommended the mayor's salary of $149,675 remain unchanged. This recommendation was approved by the SCOW.
Another recommendation approved by the SCOW was to reduce the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 5.5 per cent the mayor and council receive, to 2.5 per cent to bring the adjustment in line with the COLA non-union city employees receive. Currently, the COLA the mayor and council receive follows the Edmonton consumer price index and has been in place since 2019.
Further, SCOW approved a recommendation to give mayor and council access to a 16-week paternity leave at a 100 per cent compensation rate. In comparison, elected officials in Spruce Grove and Strathcona County have access to 26 weeks of paternity leave, although not at the full compensation rate for the full time period.
The remuneration review committee also recommended the mayor and council no longer receive partial subsidies for cellphone and Internet bills, no additional remuneration for serving as deputy mayor, and no additional remuneration for serving as chair of not-St. Albert-specific committees or boards. For example, Coun. Ken MacKay currently serves as the chair of the Alberta Capital Region Wastewater Commission.
During the April 11 meeting, several councillors asked the remuneration committee how it reached its recommendation to classify a council seat as a full-time position. Valerie Ganske, the remuneration review chair, said the committee heard throughout its review councillors spent at least 30 hours each week completing council duties, which meets the provincial government's definition of a full-time job.
Joly said she was concerned designating the role as a full-time position without a clear list of expectations for what a councillor must do might present issues. However, former councillor Ray Watkins, who served as a member of the remuneration committee and in 2021 spoke in favour of increased council remuneration and making it a full time position, said the committee was not tasked with creating a job description.
“We were tasked with coming up with a salary and the definition of the job description is in the (Municipal Government Act),” Watkins said. “It's pretty much discretionary how often you want to be out there in the community and how much time you want to put in the community.”
“I think ... it's the voters' right. After one term they look at you and say they think you work 30 hours a week, and if they don't they kick you the hell out of the office and let somebody else (in).”
The review, which was the first comprehensive review of how St. Albert's elected officials are compensated since 2016, included comparing St. Albert to 12 other Alberta municipalities, interviews with current and past councillors, and a public survey.
The remuneration review committee's report, which includes an explanation for each recommendation, is available on the city's website by accessing the April 11 standing committee of the whole agenda.
