Editorial | Spotlight parish councils

While their newly engorged pocketbooks have placed members of parliament (MPs) under scrutiny for how they do their jobs, municipal mayors and councillors have largely escaped attention, although they, too, received fat salary increases.

In the circumstances, councillors should also be subject to performance-based job descriptions and codes of conduct, similar to what has been proposed for members of the national Parliament. At the same time, the local government minister, Desmond McKenzie, should commission an independent audit of the 13 municipal corporations and the Portmore municipality, to determine whether they operate within the letter and spirit of the Local Governance Act of 2016, especially with respect to their engagement of citizens and promotion of transparency. Or, such an audit might be undertaken, on her own volition, by the auditor general, Pamela Monroe Ellis, which she has the power to do.

WERE NOT LEFT OUT

When the Government, in May, gave ministers and MPs salary hikes of 200 per cent and more, causing a major backlash among citizens, municipal councillors and parish mayors were not left out. For instance, the salary of Delroy Williams, the chairman of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation and the capital’s mayor, will next April reach J$11.45 million, a rise of 177 per cent over two years. Mr Williams, who presides over the largest local government operation, and is paid the most.

Indeed, under the salary formula for municipal councillors, Leeroy Williams, mayor of St James’ parish capital, Montego Bay – the north coast city that is Jamaica’s tourism hub – now earns 91 per cent of Delroy Williams’ pay, putting his current salary at J$9.17 million a year. His pay will reach J$10.37 million next April. The chairmen of the other municipal councils earn 86 per cent as much as Kingston’s mayor.

It is not only the leaders, though, who have got big pay hikes. Before the increases kicked in, a municipal councillor was paid J$1,672,728 a year. That moved to nearly J$4.5 million in April, and will rise further, to J$5.72 million next year – a hike of 242 per cent over two years.

Prior to the increases, Jamaica’s politicians were woefully underpaid. They deserved increases. But we, too, felt that salary hikes to legislators should be the purview of an independent panel, arrived at on the basis of specific performance criteria, rather than being automatically linked to what permanent secretaries are paid and voted on by the parliamentarians themselves.

In the face of the outcry over the pay hikes, Prime Minister Andrew Holness tabled a Green Paper on his long-promised job descriptions for his ministers, as well as a draft on what ought to be the role of other MPs. The latter document is to be reviewed by a joint select committee of Parliament, which is expected to invite submissions from the public. There was no similar initiative for municipal councils. That should happen.

REVIEWED

In the meantime, the municipal authorities would be reviewed to determine their compliance with several obligations placed on them by the Local Governance Act, to promote partnerships with citizens and encourage transparency.

For instance, Section 37 of the act allows municipal councils to delegate some of their functions to committees, where they feel that matters might be more efficiently managed this way. Up to a third of the members of these committees can be appointed from outside the councils, providing the opportunity to co-opt skills not resident in the councils. It would be useful to know how many of the 13 local government authorities have gone this route to bring fresh ideas and talent to the management of community affairs.

Additionally, Section 38 of the law mandates the authorities to establish separate finance and local government public accounts committees.

The job of the former is to oversee the management of the affairs of a parish or city government; manage the preparation of council budgets; and ensure that the authorities operate within the requirements of the law and guidelines. On the other hand, the local public accounts committees are to review the operations of the authorities for accountability, transparency and service delivery to citizens. Essentially, they are intended to resemble the national Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

The finance committees can draw up to half of their members from people in the “public, private and non-governmental sectors” who have expertise relevant to the councils.

Local public accounts committees can also appoint up to 50 per cent of their members from outside the councils or, alternatively, ensure that one-third each be from the councils’ majority and minority groups. In that event, the other third would be independent outsiders. Chairmen and deputy mayors of councils are excluded from these committees, which must be chaired by someone proposed by the parish development committees, with which the authorities should meet periodically to discuss developmental priorities.

If these arrangements are in place, they operate rather quietly.