Hay River (Apr 14/03) - West Point First Nation is once again looking for a leader.

Leon Thomas resigned as chief at a membership meeting April 9.

Thomas reportedly told the meeting he was resigning over the salary he was making as chief of the 70-member Hay River band.

As of April 1, the pay for chief rose from $12,000 to $18,000 annually.

Wendy Cayen, the financial administration assistant for the band, says Thomas was looking for double the $12,000-a-year salary.

"We were working on it and we don't understand why he didn't have patience with it," says Cayen.

She says the band was hoping to raise the chief's salary by another $500 a month in another month or so.

"It was just a matter of time," Cayen says, explaining it was difficult to immediately double the salary because of other financial requirements at fiscal year end.

Thomas went out of town after the meeting and was unavailable for comment.

Cayen says another election for chief will be held in roughly 30 days.

An acting chief has not been selected, she says, adding the membership will decide on who will fill that position at its next meeting.

Thomas was elected chief in November, but had also been acting chief since former chief Karen Thomas resigned in August.

Karen Thomas says the chief of a small First Nation can't expect a large amount of money to be leader, noting she made $12, 000 a year for her four years as chief.

She says, at the April 9 meeting, she volunteered to become acting chief until an election could be held. However, she says there were only about a dozen members at the meeting, not enough for a quorum to make such a leadership decision.

She adds it is uncertain who will become acting chief and what's happening in the band's leadership. "It's kind of confusing what's going on here."

Karen Thomas says it is a very good possibility she will run for chief in the coming election.