Editorial: Those who earn public vote should put hours in

Tauranga City Councillor Rick Curach tells us he has been working hard at working hard.

But he still cannot fathom claims most of his fellow councillors claim they are spending up to 50 hours a week on council business.

In December, he made the shock admission he was working an average of 22 hours a week on council business in stark contrast to most of his colleagues who said they were putting in 35-50 hours a week.

You have to admire his honesty, if not his judgment, in making the disclosure.

Cr Curach was rightly criticised for the lack of time he spends on the job because he is paid an annual salary of $74,171.

It is a generous sum and most people would expect a person receiving it would at least average a 40 hour-week.

In the months since his admission, Cr Curach says he has made a conscious effort to increase his hours by attending meetings of working parties and sub committees of which he is not a member. He only managed to raise his working week to 24 hours despite his efforts.

His estimated hours are largely based on how long he spent at council meetings and preparing for meetings, but not tasks such as communicating about council issues on Facebook and talking to ratepayers at the supermarket.

His view is city councillors' salaries have been raised to the point where the public view their role as a full-time job and councillors feel they have to live up to that perception.

It would be easy to dismiss this as the words of a shirker but figures released by the Remuneration Authority add weight to his comment.

The survey concluded that Tauranga councillors were working an average of three and a half to four and half days a week compared with Western Bay District Council's average of one and half to two and half days.

The base councillor's salary in Tauranga is $74,000 compared with $25,500 for Western Bay.

The salary difference is startling.

City councillors might argue that running the fifth biggest city in the country means they have more on their plate and this is possibly true.

However, there does not appear to be a vast difference in the number of committees they are expected to attend. It could also be argued that given the rural nature of the wards they represent, the demands from constituents on Western Bay councillors is also high.

Why then the huge difference in pay and working hours?

Tauranga councillor Bill Grainger says his 40-45 hour week includes time spent dealing with council issues, including taking phone calls, replying to emails, attending community meetings and following up on ratepayers' problems.

I'm sure Western Bay District councillors carry out the same tasks.

Cr Curach says if the pay and expectations were lowered the council would attract more candidates from the "real world".

He raises a valid point but most ratepayers would also argue that he could lead from the front and accept a reduced payment for the hours he works rather than wait for the Remuneration Authority to change the system.