Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell gets substantial salary boost

TheStar.com
July 23, 2013
San Grewal
 
Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell, whose salary of $213,000 was widely criticized for making her Canada’s highest paid mayor in 2012, is set to earn $19,000 more than that this year.

Fennell’s overall compensation is going up thanks to a raise based on “market adjustment increases” and a boost in pension contributions. Both were approved by council for all council members.

According to documents obtained by the Star, Fennell also has not renewed a pay reduction she asked for secretly near the end of 2013.

The city’s chief administrative officer, John Corbett, confirmed that Fennell’s 2014 pay is “status quo.”
In an emailed statement Wednesday, he described her salary move last year as “unprecedented.”
“To my knowledge, it was unprecedented for an elected official to voluntarily roll back their salary and keep the information confidential,” Corbett said.

Council was not aware of the move either, and in March asked staff to determine if Fennell violated the Municipal Act when she went secretly to the city’s treasurer to alter her salary. Salaries are set by council and can only be changed by council. Corbett said the city has “requested a legal opinion from external legal counsel” but has not yet received a response.

In all, Fennell is set to make about $232,000 in compensation for 2014. This includes $154,668 in salary from the city (one-third of which is tax-free), about $25,500 in pension contributions from the city and about $51,500 in salary for sitting on Peel Region Council. (In Peel’s two-tier system of government the mayor automatically sits on regional council.)

Fennell’s compensation does not include an additional $15,400 she gets each year for sitting on the Peel Police Services Board, her $22,000 annual automobile allowance or her $49,000-a-year limousine service.

By comparison, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will earn $177,499 this year, which is fully taxable. Brampton has a population of about 530,000 people; Toronto has about 2.8 million.

Fennell said in an emailed response to questions about her substantial pay increase that she cut her salary in November and December to set an example.

“I cut my pay in 2013 by a substantial amount, nearly 20 per cent. I did that to set an example. I did that to demonstrate — with actions, not just words — that I have listened to what people have said. I did that because it was the right thing to do,” Fennell stated I her response Tuesday.

“What members of council get paid is recommended by an external arm’s-length committee and then approved by all council. That’s as it should be.”

Fennell acknowledged the salary change in late March, after the Star asked questions about an apparent reduction when a mandated salary disclosure report was released.

Fennell also said she has taken steps related to her 2014 salary. “And, again this year, I have spoken with officials to get my pay stopped,” she said.

However, Corbett said nothing has happened.

“Although the mayor has made inquiries about 2014 salary information, staff has not been asked to stop any pay,” he said.

Brampton resident Chris Bejnar, a spokesperson for the city hall watchdog group Citizens For a Better Brampton, questions Fennell’s approach.

“If she really wanted to do the right thing, why didn’t she admit it was wrong for the Brampton mayor to be the highest paid in all of Canada, go to council and get a resolution passed to reduce her pay? Instead, she did it behind everyone’s back because she didn’t want to admit it, but she didn’t want the label in an election year.”

Bejnar said he also doesn’t understand why Fennell hasn’t gone to council to reduce her pay this year.
“If she suddenly realized it was the right thing to do at the end of last year, she’s had seven months to do it above-board this year by going to council and getting a resolution passed.”

The documents obtained under Freedom of Information legislation also show what Fennell received for her 2013 pension contribution.

City staff explained that Fennell received $25,489, minus statutory deductions, in February to cover her 2013 pension contribution. She received $15,830 directly into her RRSP, plus a separate cheque for $5,100 for the portion that exceeded her RRSP contribution limit, which she may use at her discretion.

Bejnar called the latest revelations of Fennell’s compensation “very hard to swallow for Brampton taxpayers. Many people are really struggling. With her car allowance, our mayor’s making more than a quarter of a million dollars.”