Editorial: Service the real payoff for council hopefuls

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

LOCAL body elections loom in October and there is a general air of encouragement - both officially through Local Government NZ and, more informally, through nods and nudges - for people to come forward and stand for council.

A few have already thrown the proverbial into the ring; more will follow.

At Tuesday's Whanganui District Council meeting, it was crystal clear that very few - if any - would be doing it for the pay cheque.

Even with the inflation-busting 2.5 per cent pay rise that the meeting recommended to the Remuneration Authority (which, ultimately, decides the take-home for our mayor and councillors), the ordinary councillor's money is only likely to send a tempting tingle down the spine of a beneficiary.

Being mayor, at $110,000 per annum, is a full-time responsibility; being a councillor probably means having to find an alternative source of income to supplement the $30,000-plus salary.

As Hamish McDouall said at the meeting: "Part of what we do is pure drive for public service."

However, a salient point was raised by councillor Martin Visser - the pay scale is dictated by population.

Whanganui's elected representatives have to juggle just as many issues, activities and responsibilities as a councillor from, say, Tauranga. But in that city, because of its much bigger population, councillors earn twice as much.

Does a Tauranga councillor work twice as hard? I doubt it - in fact, one could say that in a district like Whanganui, with a lower socio-economic base, the job is that much harder. Those who sit around our council table are under-paid for the job they have to do; those in Tauranga are doing quite nicely.

It is simply unfair to base the pay scale purely on population, and the Remuneration Authority should review its criteria.

Another issue - though one much more difficult to quantify - is the notion of performance pay. Quite rightly, Whanganui councillors carrying a portfolio get a little extra, but that does not entirely solve the problem of those doing the hard yards coming away with the same money as those in cruise mode.

And, of course, there is always the concept of appearance pay - councillors who miss out on meetings and workshops also missing out in the pay packet.

Still, whatever way you dice it, it doesn't look much like a gravy train.