INSIDE: Chilliwack student off to prestigious summer school Pg. 3 June 22, 2010
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LOCAL NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER & ENTERTAINMENT chilliwacktimes.com
City’s six-figure earners up 75% BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
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he number of City of Chilliwack employees making sixfigure salaries rose 75 per cent in just one year—12 in 2007 to 21 in 2008—according to a Vancouver Sun database that reveals the pay of 48,000 public-sector employees in B.C. Chilliwack’s chief administrative officer Peter Monteith was not only the highest paid public servant in the city, but he was the 22nd highest paid local government employ-
Number of Chilliwack public servants earning over $100,000 up from 12 to 21 in one year ee out of 5,293 in the province. Monteith’s $215,121 was $57,095 more than the second closest employee, Chris Crosman, general manager of operational services. In the Fraser Valley, only Surrey’s city manager Murray Dinwoodie at $312,571 and Surrey’s general manager of engineering Paul Ham at $225,315 made more than Chilliwack’s CAO.
A b b o t s f o rd’s h i g h e s t p a i d employee was director of engineering services Gordon James at $172,182. The City of Langley’s highest paid employee was CAO Francis Cheung at $183,499. Langley Township’s municipal administrator Mark Bakken made $211,588, and Mission’s CAO Glen Robertson made $164,071. Mayor Sharon Gaetz said part of
the increase in those making six figures is because of a three per cent negotiated wage increase with the union in 2008 that was also applied to management. As for Monteith’s wage, Gaetz said the city always compares itself to other similar-sized communities and competes with other municipalities and the private sector for skilled workers.
“We have to make sure our salaries are competitive,” she said. “The city CAO isn’t an exception. His wage is within our comparable municipalities.” The database revealed the pay of public servants in provincial government, local government, school districts, Crown corporations and agencies earning more than $100,000 and found that number increased 22 per cent in two years. A total of 9,768 public sector employees made over $100,000 in B.C. when the Sun first compiled See PAY, Page 7
Man injured in stabbing
FISHING DERBY BAGGED SOME BIG ONES
Latest victim of knife use has serious injury
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Tyler Olsen/TIMES
Logan Lazar, 4, examines a pair of large fish he caught during the Greg Clark Memorial Pikeminnow Fishing Derby Saturday at Cultus Lake. Around 900 anglers entered the derby, catching more than 800 pikeminnows.
Chilliwack man stabbed Saturday evening is in hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to police. Police were called to the 46100 block of Bole Avenue after a 41-year-old man was stabbed at around 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Witnesses told police the victim and another man were engaged in a dispute when one of the them took out a knife. Police say the victim and the suspect knew each other and that the act was not random. Both men are known to police. No arrests have been made yet, although police believe they know the assailant. “We are confident that we have identified the suspect involved and we are looking for him,” said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Lea-Anne Dunlop. Mounties are asking the man to turn himself in. The stabbing is the latest example of people turning to knives to resolve disputes. “In general, unfortunately, knives are being used more often in disputes,” said Dunlop. “What used to be a fistfight has led, in a lot of circumstances, to knives being used and it’s a concerning trend that is going to result, or can result, in the death of a person.”
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