It’s a service, not a job

Peter Farago
FORMER Surf Coast mayor Libby Mears has opened a can of worms, claiming she is paid a miserly $3.46 an hour to serve the community as a councillor.
Cr Mears calculated that her councillor allowance equated to $3.46 an hour for all the work she puts in each week.
Some councillors claim they work up to 80 hours a week.
The Airey’s Inlet representative asked whether it was fair that she was away from her family for such a small amount of money.
But does paying Cr Mears more make it okay for her to be away from her family?
Seeking election to a council should be about making the community a better place, not making money.
While there needs to be a balance to attract the right candidates to stand for councils, local government has to be careful it’s not providing an easy place for serial board sitters to have a rest.
But with so many councillors combining full-time work and their civic duties, it’s questionable whether allowances need to increase much.
Talk of councillors’ pay also raises the issue of what elected representatives are using the position for.
Councils are a great stepping-stone to lucrative State Government board appointments.
Most would run to serve their community or fight for a particular local issue but, in an increasing trend, many use local government as a stepping stone to higher political office.
The ALP uses local government to great effect in Victoria.
Michael Crutchfield is a great example of an ALP member who traded in his City of Greater Geelong allowance for parliamentary perks when he was elected Member for South Barwon.
On the other side of politics, Stretch Kontelj has long served the community.
But he also raised his profile significantly ahead of a couple of tilts at parliament as a Liberal.
What’s interesting about these two examples is they both combined private and public jobs.
Is the Victorian Local Governance Association push for higher councillor allowances about better renumeration or paying salaries?
If the financial inducements are to increase, should this come with some productivity clauses, like the general community has to adhere to?
Should councillors have set work hours so they can prove they’ve earned their money?
What performance targets should the community set their representatives?
Increasing pay to councillors to ensure adequate remuneration for civic duty is one thing but should the community put too high a price on civic duty?