CALGARY – Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he wasn’t surprised, and Councillor Peter Demong admitted “it’s a lot of money” when it comes to the overtime bill for city council meetings, pegged at $10,000 per session that goes long—sometimes as late as 9:30 p.m.
The city’s chief financial officer came up with the figure based on overtime costs by 21 staffers; it doesn’t include time put in by managers.
“This is part of the process of democracy, you’ve got to be able to have everyone have their say and voice their opinions,” said Demong.
Councillor Ward Sutherland suggests spending more time at city committee meetings, so that by the time matters go to council there will be fewer questions.
“We need to limit our time, and we need to take the advice of the committees, because they do a lot of the work, and that would help save some money,” said Sutherland.
Watch David Boushy’s report above for what the mayor and other councillors have to say about the cost.
With files from Erika Tucker
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