Metro Vancouver’s top bureaucrat made more than $700K last year

The yearly pay for Metro Vancouver’s top bureaucrat last year will be an eye-raiser for many.

Buried in the agenda for Metro Vancouver’s upcoming finance committee meeting on Wednesday is the compensation list for the organization.

Chief Administrative Officer Jerry Dobrovolny was paid a base salary of $451,949 in 2023.

He also received $222,578 in what Metro calls taxable benefits, plus just over $37,000 in expenses. Metro’s top man collected a grand total of $711,668.

That is roughly about $100,000 more than what B.C. Premier David Eby and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau make combined.

“At a time when many questions are being asked about the governance of Metro Vancouver, we have four of the senior leadership at Metro Vancouver in Amsterdam this week at a conference,” New Westminster city councillor Daniel Fontaine told Global News.

Fontaine said the conference has “outdoor al fresco dinners and beer festivals.”

“If that wasn’t bad enough, late on a Friday afternoon to discover that the top public servant is making just under $500K on a base salary and then some other payment of over $200,000 … All I can say is, Metro Vancouver better step it up.”

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In a statement, Metro Vancouver stands behind the annual pay numbers, saying it is in line with other organizations of similar scale.

“Metro Vancouver Commissioner and Chief Administrative Officer Jerry Dobrovolny’s compensation is in line with executive compensation for similar organizations. It was determined by an independent assessment of the scope of CAO roles within local government, public sector, and Crown corporations across the region, and across Canada,” Metro Vancouver spokesperson Amanda McCuaig said.

“The assessment determined chief administrative officer compensation by averaging the compensation of five organizations of similar scope and size to Metro Vancouver.

“These organizations are BC Hydro, BC Ferries, TransLink, YVR, and Toronto Transit Commission.”

McCuaig also said compensation is tied to a “formal annual performance review process,” conducted by representatives of the Metro Vancouver Board.

The news of the annual pay numbers comes two weeks after Metro Vancouver home owners found out how much they’ll be paying to cover the North Shore wastewater treatment plant, which is over budget by more than $3 billion.

With the costs of that ballooning budget being borne by taxpayers, New Westminster Coun. Daniel Fontaine argued it was improper for the regional district’s leaders to be jetting off on an international trip.

“The timing on this is just absolutely atrocious,” Fontaine said.

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Mayors Mike Hurley of Burnaby, Brad West of Port Coquitlam, Malcolm Brodie of Richmond and John McEwen of Anmore, along with Dobrovolny and two other regional district staff, departed last Friday to attend the International Conference on Urban Drainage.

Fontaine said it was particularly difficult to justify political leaders, who have no expertise in the subject matter at hand, to participate in such a trip.

Fontaine is one of four municipal leaders who have called on the province to initiate a governance review of Metro Vancouver, with an eye to seeing the regional district’s directors elected rather than appointed.

Last Friday, Eby said the province had raised its concerns about procurement processes on the North Shore plant and other capital projects.

“It’s vital that Metro Vancouver maintains the confidence of municipalities that it serves and I expect as do the municipalities, as does the federal government, that Metro Vancouver will work in a way to protect and where necessary restore that confidence,” he said.

With regards to matters like international travel, Eby said the mayors and other elected municipal leaders are ultimately accountable to their voters for their spending.

Metro Vancouver’s own reporting shows board expenses for 2023 had nearly doubled from pre-pandemic years, with about 60 per cent coming from just four members, three of whom are on the Amsterdam trip.

In a statement, Metro Vancouver stressed the conference is a “beneficial learning opportunity” for the entire region.

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— with files from Jordan Armstrong, Simon Little