The Metro Vancouver board of directors voted Friday not to go ahead – for now – with a planned pay increase and retirement allowance that was first agreed to by the majority of elected officials in March.
Instead, the 40-member board of mayors and city councillors agreed to have Metro staff look at creating an independent panel to review the remuneration of directors.
“It takes great leadership of this group to actually say ‘yes, we might have missed the mark on this,’ and we want to bring it back for reconsideration,” said Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore, who doubles as chairman of the Metro board.
Moore called the board’s decision in March “a mistake” but said directors should be “applauded” for listening to the public for reconsidering the motion.
The board’s move Friday came after the majority of directors voted March 23 to approve a one-time 15 per cent increase to salary remuneration and meeting attendance fees to offset tax changes announced in last year’s federal budget.
At the same meeting, the board approved a retirement allowance for directors based on the concern they don’t get pension or retirement benefits.
The allowance would have been retroactive to 2007 and total $498,000.
The increase in pay and addition of a retirement allowance angered the public and some members of the board, including West Vancouver Mayor Michael Smith, who spoke out again Friday about further compensating directors.
“It makes no sense. This is public money and our biggest responsibility is stewardship of that public money. I feel very strongly about it. People in Metro Vancouver are struggling to survive,” he said.
The exchange between Smith and Moore got testy at times, with Smith noting Moore had referred to him in the media as “the Donald Trump of Metro.”
“I’ve got broad shoulders, so if you want to list me as the villain of the ages, I’m happy to wear that moniker,” said Smith. “You, this board, drew attention to itself with the way you passed that retirement allowance and that pay increase. The press picked up on it and dug deeper. That’s not my responsibility.”
Moore shot back saying Smith had voted on “everything that you’ve been criticizing – you’ve never made an amendment, a motion, a policy or anything on the floor to change anything in our budget ... .”
City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto voted in favour of the initial pay hike and retroactive severance but voted against it when it came up for reconsideration last week.
Mussatto said he was taking his share of responsibility for the scandal and defended Moore for his steady leadership through many complex issues
“It’s not easy here but certainly I made a mistake and I’m admitting that, as you have, and moving forward,” he said.
“But I don’t think it’s fair that you take all of the hit for this because it’s all of us who voted for that, not just you.”
District of North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton voted against the pay package at both meetings.
– with files from Brent Richter
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