Editorial: Elected reps deserve pay rate if they work for it

Despite what some people might think, our mayor and the district councillor positions aren't overpaid. News coming out of the Rotorua District Council this week has struck a real chord with readers.

On Wednesday we reported the ballsy call by district councillor Mike McVicker about his views the council needs to drastically reduce debt. He has suggested slashing 50 jobs would be a good start.

While he might not be the flavour of the month in the council lunchroom right now, his stance has been praised by readers.

The next day, we reported the mayor and councillors have signed off on payrises for themselves which will come into effect after the October elections.

To make it quite clear, the mayor and councillors do not set their rates and they cannot refuse any pay rises. The salaries are set by the Remuneration Authority.

Now while this might sound like a rort (the council being in debt on one hand and then accepting payrises on the other), it is not.

Despite what some people might think, our mayor and the district councillor positions aren't overpaid.

The mayor's new salary is to rise from $115,900 to $120,350 and district councillors from $36,999 to $39,400.

Current Mayor Kevin Winters says his job is 70 hours a week. He regularly works 12-hour days and there's no such thing as a weekend. That means his hourly rate is around $33. That's fair.

Cr Charles Sturt says it's a 40-hour-a-week job, while Cr Mike McVicker estimates it's 25-30 hours a week, meaning their new pays sit between $19 an hour and $25 an hour. That too is fair. When it becomes excessive and overpaid is when you have a lazy mayor or councillors.

This is where you, the locals come in. If you don't think they deserve the money, do something about it come the elections in October.

The pays have to be attractive. They are very important jobs. As the old saying goes, if you pay peanuts you're going to get monkeys.

We need to attract quality people to these positions and good candidates simply won't put their hands up if the money is too low.

The two stories on our front pages this week weren't linked in any way but both have got readers talking, as can be seen with the Letters To The Editor on this page. The issues have also generated a lot of comment on our Facebook page.

Debate around how we perceive the council to be running the show is welcome at this newspaper. And if you are not happy - or equally are happy - with how the city is progressing, the best way to do something about it is vote in October.