Council salaries made public

THUNDER BAY – City taxpayers paid more than $591,000 in salaries and expenses to Mayor Keith Hobbs and members of council in 2017.

Mayor Keith Hobbs had the highest remuneration at $92,797, which included nearly $82,000 in salary with the remainder as city paid fringe benefits. The mayor continued collecting his salary during his three-month leave of absence.

Five members of council – Coun. Iain Angus, Coun. Shelby Ch’ng, Coun. Andrew Foulds, Coun. Aldo Ruberto and Coun. Joe Virdiramo – all had total remuneration of more than $39,000. Coun. Rebecca Johnson had the lowest at $31,000.

Hobbs, who incurred an additional $8,400 in expenses, argued those costs incurred while travelling to lobbying events like Ontario Good Roads Association or Association of Municipalities of Ontario conferences should not been viewed as income.

“We have to stay in a hotel because we don’t like sleeping in our cars. We have to eat,” Hobbs said. “Those are expenses that’s part of the job but they show up as income in the media.”

Coun. Linda Rydholm had the highest expense claims at more than $14,700, bringing her total remuneration and expenses to more than $50,000. Virdiramo billed more than $7,000 in expenses, half of which was incurred while he was serving as acting mayor. Coun. Paul Pugh did not claim any expenses.

All councillors started with a base salary of $28,764 before adding benefit costs as well as additional pay from sitting on outside boards.

“What changes is the amount of activity a specific councillor engages in, in relation to the work of the city,” Virdiramo said.