Deputy mayor, budget chair in line for 12.5 per cent pay boost

Two London city councilors in key roles are in line to pay raises of more than $8,100 recommended by Mayor Josh Morgan as he exercises his new “strong mayor” powers.

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Members of city council’s strategic priorities and policy committee voted 9-5 at a meeting Tuesday to give deputy mayor Shawn Lewis and budget chair Elizabeth Peloza 12.5 per cent raises because they are taking on additional duties assigned by Morgan under the new powers handed down by the provincial government.

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Councilors Anna Hopkins, Corrine Rahman, David Ferreira, Jerry Pribil and Sam Trosow voted against Morgan’s motion. Coun. Steve Lehman was absent.

Most councilors said they agreed with the premise to compensate Lewis and Peloza for their expanded roles, but the disagreement largely boiled down to who would decide and to what degree.

Trosow said he recognizes the “incredible tasks” both politicians take on, and agreed they should be paid extra, but he would like to see the matter reviewed formally by the governance working group.

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“This increase is something that needs discussion from our regularly established procedures,” he said. “I don’t like the idea, especially when the budget is on the table itself, of making ad hoc changes to this.”

Rahman also raised concerns about how the percentage increases were reached, saying council needs to define exactly why the roles should receive more money.

“Compensation management is a really important aspect of human resources, and . . . we have to have clear and transparent ways of establishing why a role is compensated at the level that it’s compensated,” she said. “We haven’t established the rationale associated with the role.”

Changes to compensation for councilors and other financial matters usually get their start at the governance working group, a small group of councilors who meet about six times a year.

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Morgan had recommended a pay increase of 12.5 per cent for Lewis and 10 per cent for Peloza, but Trosow said he disagreed with the suggestion the budget chair should receive less than the deputy mayor. Several councilors agreed, pointing out that the numbers were solely based on Morgan’s perception of both roles.

Coun. Hadleigh McAlister put forward an amendment to put both increases at 12.5 per cent. It was adopted with an 11-3 vote, with Rahman, Pribil and Trosow voting in opposition.

The base pay of a city councilor is set at $65,137 in 2024. The raises, if approved by city council, would add $8,142.12 to the pay of Lewis and Peloza.

Lewis, who under the recommendation of the integrity commissioner was given endorsement to speak to Morgan’s motion, fiercely defended the proposal, saying he can’t continue to work “two jobs” without recognition.

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“I’m not going to be able to keep taking calls on weekends. . . working 60 hours a week, if I’m not getting recognized in some way for that,” he said. He said he has made many sacrifices of his time in his personal life, beyond what is expected of a ward advisor.

Coun. Peter Cuddy liked the roles to the second-in-command and the chief financial officer of a corporation being compensated to the levels of a mid-level managers.

But Hopkins raised the concern of “creating a division on council.”

“As long as I’ve been on council, I’ve always felt that we’re all equal to some extent,” she said. “I’m OK with (giving councilors raises) as long as it goes through the accountability and transparency.”

A motion to defer the matter to the governance working group was defeated in a vote of 8-6, with councilors Rahman, Pribil, Ferreira, Hopkins, Trosow, and Skylar Franke voting in favor.

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The Ford government gave Morgan and mayors of 25 other large cities in the province “strong mayor powers” ​​in July 2023 after they submitted a pledge to the province to build a certain number of new homes in their municipalities.

Among Morgan’s new powers is the ability to create and assign functions for councillors, and appoint chairs of committees.

In his motion, Morgan recommends that Lewis will chair the meetings of two committees (strategic priorities and policy and the governance working group) and Peloza will chair the audit committee.

“I couldn’t possibly add that additional work without coming before council to ask if you would be supportive of a temporary increased compensation through the rest of this term for both the deputy mayor and the budget chair,” Morgan said.

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“This is my suggestion and starting point for the discussion,” he said. “This is a short-term recognition of additional workload, that is probably not accurate compensation of what needs to be done in the long term.”

The raises for Lewis and Peloza would be temporary, subject to review when the governance working group committee meets next. Its next meeting is scheduled for March 25.

The temporary raises and new roles will still be subject to final approval at the next regular meeting of city council on Jan. 23.

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