Kamloops council finally got its wish: a massive, 40 per cent pay raise. From the moment Coun. Nancy Bepple started pushing the idea, it was a fait d’accompli. The only question: how big.

Remember, this is a council which raised taxes 4 per cent this year – despite the fact that inflation hovers at 1 per cent.

In an excellent Kamloops Daily News column today, former mayor Mel Rothenburger pokes several holes in the “citizens’ report” that gave council cover for the raises. The most salient:

Using a process stripped down to its skivvies, they covered the bases and made a tight deadline. After much discussion and a little public consultation, without researching council’s workload beyond looking at its meeting schedule, without addressing the volunteer component of being a councillor or the fact a third of council’s salaries is tax-free, the committee concluded an increase was in order.

If the measure of how much politicians should be paid is how much other politicians are paid, the committee nailed it.

But that shouldn’t be the measure for politician pay. There is no competitive market for politicians. Nancy Bepple isn’t sitting there thinking, “Geez, Kelowna council pays better… I’m going to run there.” Arjun Singh isn’t being recruited by Surrey council to run in the Lower Mainland. With no competitive market, who the heck cares what councillors are being paid in other communities?

On one point, I hope Kamloops council is right. If higher pay will attract the best and the brightest in a community to run for office, I hope those new candidates will actually materialize and sweep the current crop out.