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Port councillor complains about lack of information

A Port Clements councillor is complaining that he did not have full information when council made decisions in December about various committee and board appointments.Urs Thomas wrote an email to his fellow council members saying he was surprised to learn that the regional district appointment comes with remuneration of more than $10,000 a year.He didn't find that out until Dec. 22, but council had already voted Dec. 5 to re-appoint Ian Gould as the regional district representative, a job he had been doing since the resignation of former mayor Cory Delves a few months earlier.Mr. Thomas said the remuneration should have been listed on the info sheet that was handed out describing the various appointments."This is not what I would call 'building trust and a good relationship' for a new council!" Mr. Thomas wrote. "I would urge our mayor and councillors to have a discussion on this in a closed meeting."Mayor Wally Cheer said the issue did not meet the requirements for a closed meeting, and put it on the agenda for the Jan. 16 open public meeting.Council members said the remuneration for regional district directors has been fully reported in the Observer and that they could not understand Mr. Thomas's complaint."I read the email and I fail to see what the big deal is about this," said councillor Matt Gaspar. "Are you upset because you could have taken it if you knew if was a paid position?"Mr. Gaspar also said that council is trying to work as a team and he was very disappointed by the wording of Mr. Thomas's email.Administrator Kim Mushysnky suggested that council could make a motion directing staff to include remuneration for appointed positions on the info sheet in future years, but no motion was made and council did not discuss the issue further.