The candidates don’t think so. But then again, they’re all competing for the same job. Who’s about to come out and say, oh yeah, and a salary hike would be great. In general, I think a job like mayor should get a good salary. A report from the Hay group suggests a 9% raise is appropriate, from $167,769.94 to $183,604, plus $1,900.08 in added benefits.

The way I see it, either the current salary or the proposed higher salary is very very good pay. I can’t imagine a potential candidate thinking, well I’m not going to take on a job like that for only $168k. Now if they upped it to $184k, that’s another story. Both salaries are within the same order of magnitude, and I don’t have a quarrel with either of them. As I said, I think the mayor ought to be well-paid. Some would argue that neither salary is going to attract a qualified enough candidate, and I don’t really know if that’s true or not. Certainly CEOs of private companies earn scads more than the mayor of our major metropolis, but perhaps those CEOs simply make an unreasonable amount of money.

I suggest that if we give the mayor more dough, we should put some controls around City Hall office budgets (like make them smaller) to discourage councillors from spending the money on French lessons or retirement parties. At the councillor level, I don’t think more money in the pot would change anything for the better. It is very difficult to unseat an incumbant in Toronto, and I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t change if the job were made more lucrative.

That reminds me, recall that a few days ago, I sent 10 questions out to the three registered candidates for Ward 6 councillor. Ward 6 is of course my local ward. Two of the candidates replied promptly with their answers. I haven’t yet heard from the third, so I sent that individual a second (and last email). On Wednesday evening, I’ll begin posting the responses here at 27th Street.  I really hope that all three candidates reply to my questions.