Sooke’s elected officials’ remuneration stays the same, CAO ranges magnificently
-SPN, based on files from the Statement of Financial Information, 2006 – 2016
Sooke has publicly posted remuneration available for the District, so in the spirit of Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) report, SPN decided to do a 10-year review of local remuneration.
Our findings, in a nutshell, is that our elected officials are paid more or less the same over the past decade, and the CAO remuneration has fluctuated tremendously.
The Mayor, who is the CEO of the District, has had a 10-year remuneration hovering at around $20,000.
The current mayor, Mayor Maja Tait, has the third lowest remuneration rate ($18,756.96 in 2016) over the past ten years.
The highest earning on record was that by Mayor Janet Evans, who received a grand total of $20,769.21 in 2009.
Expenses have been excluded from these amounts, as they fluctuate from person to person.
Councillors’ remuneration increased from about $8,500 in 2006 to about $10,000 in 2009, and their remuneration has more or less stayed the same.
In contrast to the elected officials, the CAO remuneration has fluctuated dramatically over the past decade, starting at $103,000 and topping the scale in 2012 at $177,000.
Notable in the CAO list is Evan Parliament (pink), whose first year remuneration was $106,000, and saw a 67% pay increase over his six years of service. Also notable is the current CAO, who is receiving the highest starting CAO salary in the history of Sooke’s incorporation.
Is the mayor part time? I thought I remember something about her campaign that she thought sooke only needed a part time mayor? If that is the case, should her salary not be reflective of that?
Yes the mayors position is considered part time.
Looks like part-time pay to me. If that was my full time pay it would be around $9/hr. Even if it was only 20hrs/wk that’s $18/hr. For someone who is the head of our city/town? The guy pumping my septic tank gets more than that.
Are you including reimbursements in these figures?
Hi Lee, I’ve excluded expenses on all numbers, because those vary among recipients. These numbers are just annual remunerations (council) and wages (CAO), excluding expenses for all.
These CAO remuneration numbers are misleading. Have inflation and cost of living been incorporated to show the figures in the same real dollars? Where are the regional comparables? Comparing Sooke to itself in nominal values provides little value. Is this a smear campaign?
A smear campaign? Maybe if the facts were wrong you could complain. Why is this information of little value? I’m shocked to see the office staff making $140000.00 and the Mayor making $18000. That is real news! Are you speaking for any of the Staff when you say its a smear campaign?
$140k is on the lower end for CAO compensation, both regionally and provincially. This is not news to anyone who is willing to do research. I asked if it was a smear campaign as the writer of this blog has come out against the CAO on numerous occasions, without presenting accurate information. The figures presented here are not in real figures so comparing them is NOT accurate. I challenge the writer of this blog to present the numbers in real figures and present the salaries of other managers regionally to be considered fair and accurate. Stoke deserves fair and accurate reporting, please step up your game! Thank you
Dear Alex,
You will find a complete response here: http://sooke.pocketnews.ca/open-letter-to-alex-let-your-accusations-be-grounded-in-fact/
Have a nice day,
Britt Santowski, BA, MA
Publisher,
Sooke PocketNews
A smear campaign. Now we’re not allowed to talk about pay increases? Very few people get more increase than 1 or 2% a year and that’s if they are lucky. Pensions only go up a few cents per month annually. Minimum wage only goes up a few cents per hour, this after over a decade of no increase whatsoever. None of it keeps pace with the increase in the cost of living. Look at the recent announcements of big increases in things like medical, insurance, hydro which we all need. Look at the recent jump in gas prices which will impact anything imported on to the island.
The only people who’s wages do better than the cost of inflation are CEO types, they always seem to swing very lucrative pay increases on top of an already better than average salary.
Firstly the Mayor is not employed by Sooke. The ‘appointment’ allows for ‘Renumeration’ of the figures stated. Note that the renumeration has remained pretty much the same for the last 10 years. I think that has to be seen as value for money at a minimum!
I’d be more interested in questioning the spikes in wages for the CAO if I were keeping tabs on such things.