Wednesday - Aug. 21, 2024 - Residential subdivision hopes replace quarry proposal

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Good morning!

Our politician pay stories have prompted many thought-provoking comments and questions so far including one from a reader asking if we could detail just how many hours mayors and councillors actually work. It’s an interesting question to answer—but that impossibility ties directly into how much politicians should get paid.

Being mayor is clearly a full-time job, and usually much more. But they, and especially councillors, mostly define the limits of their jobs. There is a public council meeting every second week and, usually, a closed meeting of indefinite length. There are also occasional committee meetings, and reading of council agendas (although one can skim most and still have a very good understanding of the topics at hand).

But a huge amount of the work is defined by the individual councillor. From attendance at public events to engagement with constituents, our councillors—and in some cases mayors too—define the scope of their own jobs. If we want them to do more, it seems rational to expect them to be compensated for that activity. But, like workers in any job, some councillors are far better than others in translating the hours they work into actual productivity for their employees—i.e. making good decisions at the council table for constituents.

I think it’s probably true that our councils and politicians are busier than ever. But I sometimes wonder if they should be. Not all municipal council meetings last five hours; not every councillor needs to attend tedious government press conferences. We always want our politicians to do more. But sometimes, I wonder, if less is better. I also wonder if demanding less would better help attract good potential leaders than better pay.

At the end of the day the question is whether and how a politician’s activity is useful for their constituents. Luckily, voters get to answer that every four years.

– Tyler

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NEWS

The politician pay escalator

Call it the leap-frog effect.

If you want to know why the pay for local politicians in many BC communities has risen faster than residents’ wages over the past decade, you need to understand how most municipalities decide upon a fair wage for a mayor or councillor.

Politician salaries are still relatively modest compared to executive positions in both the private sector and in local government. In Chilliwack, for instance, the mayor made about $135,000 last year, while the top bureaucrat, the chief administrative officer, took home more than $200,000.

But politician salaries have been catching up.

The Langley City mayor’s sash comes with a salary that is $50,000 higher than a decade ago. In Langley Township, the mayor makes $60,000 more than he did in 2012. And Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Mission all pay their politicians considerably more than a decade ago.

The increases haven’t come out of thin air. Instead, most BC cities have adopted an escalatory system where their politicians’ wages are linked to those at other cities and towns. So when one city gives its leaders a raise, those pay hikes become data that is used to justify increases in other communities. Those higher salaries in turn signal to even more communities that it’s time to raise the pay of their own mayors and councillors.

• Today, Tyler writes about exactly how BC’s cities and towns set those pay rates, and how a couple local communities have tried a new approach.

• On Monday, we revealed the pay for every mayor and councillor in the Fraser Valley.

• Yesterday, Tyler talked to Langley City mayor Nathan Pachal about the case for higher politician pay.

• Tomorrow, we’ll break down the expenses for all the valley’s mayors and councillors.

Need to Know

👉 A modular addition to a Langley school has been seamlessly blended into the surrounding school [Langley Advance Times] / Earlier this year, we wrote about the potential for modular additions to speed up the expansion of schools [FVC]

🔥 A wildfire discovered north of Harrison Mills remains out of control—but it’s still very small [BC Wildfire Service]

🍔 Abbotsford’s ‘zombie Burger King’ has been closed after two very strange months [Ben Lypka/X]

👉 Long-time Chilliwack MP Chuck Strahl, who died last week, is remembered as ‘first and foremost a servant to those institutions that formed him’ [The Hub]

🚛 Two City of Mission workers have been injured in recent weeks by loose glass discarded in trash [City of Mission/Facebook]

🚚 As Canada braces for a rail shut down, truckers don’t have the capacity to handle all the demand [Reuters]

🚂 The West Coast Express is expected to stop running during a rail shut down [CityNews]

👉 Two alleged thieves who broke into a self-storage facility were caught on camera [Mission Record]

🌲 A man who was sexually assaulted as a child wants an apology after police told him on Christmas Day that no charges would be laid [Langley Advance Times]

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The Agenda

Site of controversial quarry proposal now eyed for homes

It has been four years since a proposed quarry on Bear Mountain south of Harrison Hot Springs was shot down. Now, the owners of the property are looking to undertake modest residential development on the land instead.

In 2017, the property owners applied to the province to develop a gravel quarry with an onsite crusher on a portion of their land. (The property, located on Hot Springs Road, is zoned for both agriculture and resource management. Half the property is in the Agricultural Land Reserve; the other half is forested and on Bear Mountain’s hillside.) A group of Harrison Hot Springs residents vehemently opposed the application.

The group, called Friends of Agassiz and Harrison Hot Springs, undertook a letter writing, door knocking, and petition signing campaign that lasted three years. Finally, in 2020, the senior inspector of mines chose not to issue a permit for a quarry.

Now, the owners are hoping to build a five-lot subdivision on the side of Bear Mountain. A road passing through the ALR portion of the property, which sits within the District of Kent, was already conditionally approved. Each lot will be serviced through on-site well and septic systems. The District will hold a public hearing on the proposal on Wednesday, Oct. 16.

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🗓 Things to do

Bike for cancer: The 2024 Tour de Cure kicks off on Thursday, Aug. 24 and Friday, Aug. 25 with two cycling routes to raise money for the BC Cancer Foundation. Riders can participate either in a two-day adventure from Cloverdale to Hope, or a one-day ride from Chilliwack to Hope. Register online.

Park food: Abbotsford's Jubilee Park hosts Taste Around the World, a celebration of food and culture, on Thursday, Aug. 24. Experience the diverse fabric of Abbotsford through food, music, and performance. Details online.

Sally Ann service: A number of Chilliwack churches are joining together for Jesus Downtown, a city-wide service in honour of the Salvation Army's 100th birthday on Sunday, Aug. 25. The service starts at 10:30am at Central Community Park, and is followed by a block party from noon to 4pm. Details online.

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