Yellowknife (Nov 05/04) - A drive to give the mayor's position a bigger salary will have to wait a little longer, as city council is not yet prepared to strike a committee to look into it.

Coun. Blake Lyons made the original motion to investigate the mayor's salary last month. At the time, he said he was worried the mayor's position doesn't offer rewards comparable to those available for in political offices in the territory, which could discourage quality candidates from letting their names stand.

The mayor currently makes a base salary of $58,587, plus a tax-free municipal officer's allowance of $29,293.54.

Lyons is out of town this week and could not be reached for comment. On Monday, council debated a recommendation from administration that they form a remuneration committee. In the end they decided to send it back to the drawing board for more discussion.

One bone of contention was a recommendation to implement the salary increase by Jan. 1, 2005. That recommendation was later struck off the agenda.

"(Council) is going to allow the committee to make that recommendation," said Mayor Gord Van Tighem. "It'll be coming forward again on Monday."

When asked whether he felt he deserved a raise, Van Tighem reiterated his earlier statement that "it's for the position not the person."

However, now that Inuvik's mayoral position has been made into a full-time job, Van Tighem believes he is currently making less than his Delta counterpart, Peter Clarkson.

"He's making about $102,000 and I'm making $82,000," said Van Tighem.

Should the mayor geta salary increase?

Coun. Mark Heyck:

"What I've heard is our mayor is paid less than a lot of full-time positions in other jurisdictions but I'm prepared to wait for a report from the remuneration committee."

Coun. Alan Woytuik:

"I think so. It is a fairly time consuming and important role. The question is how much?"

Coun. Dave McCann:

"Just before the last election, we passed a council remuneration bylaw. Everybody runs with the full knowledge of what remuneration is involved. We should be looking at it closer to the next election."

Coun. Bob Brooks:

"In my opinion, I've seen the work entailed and I would support an increase, yes."

Coun. Doug Witty:

"It's a full-time position. We need to fund it at a level that will attract quality candidates.

Coun. Blake Lyons:

He was out of town and could not be reached for comment.

Coun. Kevin O'Reilly:

"I think there needs to be an independent review of not just the mayor but council as well. I just don't know at this point."

Coun. Wendy Bisaro:

She was out of town and could not be reached for comment.