Yellowknife (Oct 01/04) - City councillor Blake Lyons says it's time to give the mayor a raise.

Lyons served notice Monday night that he intends to bring forward a motion to set up a committee to investigate the mayor's salary, which he said is too low for the time and effort required for the job.

Van Tighem

Mayor Gord Van Tighem currently makes a base salary of $58,587 plus an annual tax exempt municipal officer's allowance of $29,293.54. He is also entitled to four weeks paid vacation, medical and disability coverage and a vacation travel allowance.

"I've seen too many cases where you get somebody good in office and they're attracted to territorial or the federal scene and then we have to bring in somebody new," said Lyons.

He said, in his opinion, salaries for city councillors -- at $9,828 a year plus a municipal officer's allowance of $4,914 -- are fine because they don't have to do nearly as much work.

Lyons said he will recommend that council direct administration to form an independent committee to determine the best salary for the mayor.

A reenumeration review committee was established for several months three years ago to look at, among other items, the size of council and their pay.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said he agreed that he has a lot on his plate, although he is also compensated by a pension he receives from the Bank of Montreal, where he used to work.

"If people were to look at the level of responsibility and the hours and all that sort of thing, I'm quite certain they would look at it once or twice," said Van Tighem.

When asked if he would like to make more money, the mayor could only laugh.

"Most people do," he said.