Favours for Friends

Sorry for the delay. So much going on. Probably the biggest frustration for someone posting daily about our Council is when so much happens at once. This week, many people will enjoy a free concert and some great weather at the beach. Cool! That’s part of the allure of living here.

But… the other thing that happened this week is people got their tax bills. Massive increases… so are these concerts really free? Well, the reality is these free concerts are a drop in the bucket when you look at the most recent wage review of Council and Senior Staff.

In my personal opinion, the hashtag, #favoursforfriends should be affixed to all of Wasaga Beaches outgoing communications for reference.

Did you know that Council disclosed that many employees were moved up a level on the Municipal Wage Grid. This is supposed to reflect a change in responsibilities. There are two terms used in the descriptions.

Value Group: the perceived value of the position, and…

Step: one can assume this is to reflect increases based on years of experience in the position.

CAO- In the June 13 Agenda, several employees moved up a value level in the report. Those employees were identified using a bold font. It seems there was an oversight and the CAO was not in bold. It is my understanding though that his wage was adjusted.

In 2023, his wage was calculated using an hourly wage at level 13, in 2024 it was changed to level 14. It’s hard to know how much of an increase he got without knowing what “step” level they are paying him at.

2023; 13/1-$86.81, 13/5- $101.56

2024- 14/1-$120.17, 14/5-$141.48

So, although there is no public disclosure of what step our senior staff are being compensated at, there are many possible combinations. By moving this position up a level, the raise in one year at level 5 is $39.92 per hour.

Well THAT is the top job.

Let’s assume like most hard working people, our CAO is paid 2080 hours a year.

Of course we won’t know the actual compensation level until the Sunshine list is revealed.

My personal opinion is that the position of CAO is important and should be compensated accordingly, but adjusting compensation to these levels is totally irresponsible of our Mayor and Council.

My wife Sylvia Bray attended the Council meeting to object to the Council increases. Of course, they have cancelled the public comment period so she had to make her attendance a “deputation” giving Council the opportunity to prepare written responses to her deputation.

PLEASE, Go to the linked video and fast forward to 52:20. Remember, Sylvia Bray only commented on the Council wages, but they had no way of knowing what she would say, so they prepared more diverse responses. It starts with Councilor White who says “it’s nice to have the ability to be here without the … (long uncomfortable pause) … ruckus in the room.” Lol… then he read from a prepared text. Listen to him justify the Council and Staff increases.

His numbers are flawed in his use of them but he thinks it’s ok to use numbers to his advantage. He forgets that Collingwood has a Council of 9, not 7.

After watching their explanations, consider that this compensation review happens at a time when the workload on the CAO has been reduced by adding a Deputy CAO to the payroll.

PLEASE, refrain from personal comments regarding the CAO or any staff mentioned in future discussions. This post is about the Council we elected and the sloppy financial decisions they are making. Listening to the Council try to justify these increases is also interesting.

Let’s look at that position in our next conversation.