Town of St. Paul council nearly jumped from the frying pan into the fire at the meeting on Oct. 24. Two of five council members supported a motion that would have enshrined councillors’ right to get paid to go golfing, that is, if wearing a Town of St. Paul cap at the same time. The motion, put forward by Ken Kwiatkowski, stated that if a councillor misses a day’s work and wage while representing the Town at a political or charity golf tournament, the councillor would be entitled to an honorarium.
Before the motion, the CAO suggested councillors could apply for an honorarium anyway. But with the defeated motion on the books, council has set a good example for other municipalities. Fortunately, three councillors were enough to vote the motion down. After the media spotlight burned council’s $500 donation to the PC party, perhaps few had the stomach for another go at it.
At council meeting, the CAO, who is also the local PC association treasurer, indicated the association has paid the $500 back to the municipality. Councillors reimbursed the PC association for the golf tournament that night, but whether they could apply to the public relations ledger for reimbursement, as suggested by the CAO, sparked the motion and council’s discussion.
The motion and the CAO’s suggestion miss the point and seem to indicate that the accusation of St. Paul as the home of “pork barrel politics” has not hit home. If the motion were successful, it would be the same as before: the taxpayers forking over money, albeit indirectly, for a political fundraiser.
Councillor Gary Ward is right when he said “If you want to go golfing for a fundraiser for somebody, that’s our own choice to do and if you want to take a day off to do it, so be it.”
Part of Kwiatkowski’s argument rested with the difference between part-time councillors, who have full-time jobs, and urban politicians who are paid on salary and thus would be technically on the take anyways.
I applaud council’s decision to take a principled stand by defeating the motion.
Politics is supposed to be about public service, not passing resolutions to get money stemming from a partisan cause into a councillor’s pocket. Either with a cheque cut directly to the association or through a reimbursement from the Town, money and a councillor’s attendance goes to support the PC party – that’s the issue and why it’s important that council voted it down.
