News | DrumhellerMail

Task force recommends $10k raise for Mayor Yemen

    Council will vote on whether to approve a raise for the mayor’s position after a citizen group tasked to review elected officials' compensation recommended Mayor Terry Yemen be paid just over $10,000 more per year.
    The Elected Official Numeration Task force, chaired by Bob Hannah, recommended Yemen be paid $35,000 a year, after comparing his salary to 11 other communities of similar size. The mayor’s position currently pays $24,255 a year, including expense allowances.
    The recommendations brought to council on March 28 will be either put into effect or denied at the April 11 town council meeting.
    Task force member Irv Gerling told inSide Drumheller the town’s head position was, on average, 25 per cent underpaid compared to the other municipalities. The salary includes a general expense allowance.
    After a new council is elected every three years, citizens are appointed to the task force to review compensation of the elected officials.
    “We didn’t go after this. We’re just following through with what the bylaw said, and this is the recommendation that came through from the people of Drumheller.”
    “I was surprised to see how far behind Drumheller has fallen compared to other communities,” says Yemen.
    Gerling said, “There’s more transparency compared to talking to provincial bodies or MLAs, where they automatically vote themselves whatever they want with no public input.
    “From almost a democratic or transparency view, they are accepting information from an unbiased group. We were looking at what’s fair from other municipal bodies of similar size,” says Gerling.
    Gerling said the councillors' compensation is on par with other communities. Typically in other towns, Gerling said the mayor is paid 1.9 times what councillors make. Councillors are currently being paid $16,135.00, including general expense allowance. “That was another angle we looked at when we were reviewing the salary,” he said.
    The communities which salaries were compared to were Beaumont, Edson, High River, Hinton, Lacombe, Olds, Panoka, Rocky Mountain House, Sylvan Lake, Stettler, and Taber.

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