Montague, Rice split on full-time council

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Coun. Stephen Montague (Richmond) says making a city council position a full-time job would allow councillors to be “fully available at all times.”

At least one Brandon councillor would like to see the city explore the idea of turning council positions into full-time jobs.

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Coun. Garth Rice (South Centre) worries that changing to a full-time council may keep potential candidates from running. (FILE PHOTO)

Coun. Stephen Montague (Richmond) said the move would allow councillors to be "fully available at all times."

"I think going and looking at a full-time council is something worthwhile," Montague said. "You’re able to fully commit yourself to it, so I think you’d have better-informed councillors."

Council currently consists of 10 part-time members and a full-time mayor. As the Brandon Sun reported last week, it can be challenging for members to juggle all of the city responsibilities, while holding down a full-time day job.

"We have councillors who have small children and I have no idea how they do it," said Mayor Shari Decter Hirst recently. "Being very active councillors and working full time and having a family life, means that you’re always being pulled in three different directions."

Montague said with a part-time council, many potential candidates just won’t run.

"Why aren’t younger people running?" he said. "It’s because you’ve got responsibilities to your family … you have bills to pay and you have a life to live, and that’s when you look at the time commitment and that’s where younger people say, ‘well maybe I can’t do it,’ so they wait till later in life."

Montague said council is missing a valuable viewpoint at the table "when you don’t have a wide range of backgrounds … different ages and different life experiences."

But what would it take to change council from part time to full time?

Some say the population of Brandon would need to increase significantly. Currently, Brandon’s population is roughly 52,000. Recent estimates by MMM Group, a consulting firm hired by the city suggest Brandon’s population may grow to more than 70,000 in the next 20 years. Mid-range estimates show the population increasing to 61,000 by 2036.

Under the Municipal Act, council sets the size of its own council (through bylaw) and establishes how council will operate. Compensation for council is established through a bylaw, so any change in that compensation will require the council’s amendment to the bylaw.

Another key point that comes into play when considering a full-time council is whether the number of councillors would need to be reduced.

"You have to pay councillors an adequate salary and to me an adequate salary these days could not be anything less than maybe $60,000," said political science professor at Brandon University, Meir Serfaty. "Multiply that by 10, plus benefits, plus the other office space, possible staff … You may be looking at at least a million, a million and a half extra."

Currently, the salary for Brandon’s mayor is $70,300, while councillors earn $17,500. Deputy mayor earns $43,200.

Serfaty has worked at the university for the past 40 years, and in that time has done extensive work and research on city council and local politics.

He said the idea of a full-time council is an interesting notion that deserves some discussion.

"Before you get to the point where you’re going to determine whether that is a good way to go, you have to try and decide whether the workload of city councillors really justifies making the council full time," he said.

Serfaty said a full-time council could potentially create a "more knowledgeable, more involved, more policy-making oriented group of councillors."

Council would have to become a professional body and more involved in the day-to-day running of city hall business, he said.

The most significant drawback of a full-time council, according to Serfaty, is the fact that people would have to give up their job to become a councillor.

"You tend to inhibit worthwhile people perhaps running for council if they have other jobs," he said.

Coun. Garth Rice (South Centre), who is deputy mayor, is currently serving his 11th year on council. He said changing to a full-time council may deter potential candidates.

"You’d lose a lot of ability to attract really good people," he said.

Rice is an operating engineer and said "there’s no way" he would give up his job.

"I’m one of the lucky ones who enjoy what I do," he said.

Rice said he likes the ward system and how each councillor represents roughly 4,000 to 5,000 people.

"I think that’s a pretty good ratio," he said. "I wouldn’t want to go any smaller because then you’d kind of get lost in numbers."

Rice said it’s good to have the discussion, but doesn’t believe that Brandon is quite ready for a full-time council.

Former Brandon School Division trustee and lawyer Brian Mayes is now a Winnipeg city councillor in the St. Vital ward. He says with Brandon’s population, having 10 part-time councillors is better than five full-time councillors.

"Having a council of three or five full time I don’t think is an improvement," he said. "At some point, the city gets big enough that you do want a full-time council."

Winnipeg City Council went full time in 1992.

"It makes sense here," Mayes said. "You’re on seven or eight committees plus you want to go and knock on doors, you want to go to community events, you get the endless emails and calls about snow clearing and parks.

"It’s certainly a full-time job."

The compensation for Winnipeg’s 15 full-time city councillors ranged from $55,000 to $84,000 in 2011.

In Mayes’ ward, there are roughly 52,000 constituents.

Saskatoon, which has a population of about 240,000 still has a part-time council, as does Regina, which has a population of about 210,000.

Most cities of Brandon’s size still work with part-time councils.

"Frankly, I don’t know of any city, the size of Brandon, that has full-time councillors," Serfaty said.

The city of Guelph, Ont., which has a population of roughly 140,000 people, is currently eyeing the idea.

Serfaty said Brandon shouldn’t necessarily go by what other cities are doing across Canada.

"We want to be a better city and to continue to improve … We should go by what we, as a city need to do and what is best for us," he said.

Decter Hirst said a full-time council is not being considered right now, but says there are merits that other communities have found advantageous.

"Their council meetings are during the day usually, during business hours because you’re not trying to accommodate councillors’ work schedules," Decter Hirst said, adding members would be "solely focused on being the councillor, versus the employee as well as the councillor, running the business as well as the councillor, depending on the circumstances."

Decter Hirst said research would have to be done to see whether full-time paid councillors — including salaries, benefits, office spaces and staff support — would be justified.

"Perhaps we could use those funds to better purpose in Brandon, given our size," she said.

"I think that people in Brandon are comfortable with the different ways you can access information or get your opinion to councillors."

» jaustin@brandonsun.com

Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition March 16, 2013