PelhamToday received the following letter to the editor from a reader regarding Welland councillor compensation:
I, and I am sure, all other Welland municipal taxpayers, will say wholeheartedly that it is very upsetting to learn that our Welland city councillors will be considering another recommended increase in their pay (and benefits?).
This recommendation is particularly odious at this time in view of council’s action at their meeting on September 1, 2020, when council gifted themselves with an incredible 47 percent pay increase and extended health benefits retroactive to July 1, 2020, by voting in favour of a motion moved by Bryan Green and John Chiocchio.
At that time the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns were at their height, business was at a standstill, and municipal and private sector workers were being laid off. The councillors who voted in favour of this 2020 motion (YEAS) were: Jim Larouche, Bryan Green, Graham Speck, John Chiocchio, Claudette Richard, Mary Ann Grimaldi, Bonnie Fokkens, and Leo Van Vliet (The List of Shame). What makes this current recommendation even more unpalatable is the assertion in a recent news report that Welland city councillors are already the highest paid local municipal councillors in the Region of Niagara.
My recommendation to Welland city councillors: Cease and desist with the personal greed.
Albert R. Smith
Welland
