THURSDAY June 19, 2014 Vol. 29• No. 49 ••• $1.25 inc. G.S.T.
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Ka-ching! City’s top earners make big bucks 28 staffers earned $75K+ in 2013 Scott Stanfield Record Staff
Nine employees at Courtenay City Hall earned six-figure salaries last year, according to
financial statements which municipalities and regional districts are required each year to release. Topping the list was director of financial services Tillie Manthey, who earned just under $140,000 in 2013 ($139,978), along with $4,000-plus in expenses. Incoming chief administra-
tive officer David Allen earned $111,655 while outgoing CAO Sandy Gray made $89,261. Other top earners include now-retired operational services director Kevin Lagan ($124,576), planning services director Peter Crawford ($122,235), community services director Randy Wiwchar ($114,324), fire chief Don
GRAVESITE MEMORIAL
Bardonnex ($103,220), former manager of operations Keir Gervais ($104,293), senior manager of engineering Lesley Hatch ($101,351) and legislative services director John Ward ($100,004). Total remuneration for employees with salaries exceeding $75,000 was nearly $2.6 million. More than $100,000 in expenses
Record Staff
PHOTO BY SCOTT STANFIELD
The gravesite of Ginger Goodwin was covered with flowers at Saturday’s vigil at the Cumberland Cemetery during Miners Memorial Weekend. The annual event commemorates fallen workers, labour history and contemporary labour issues. Albert “Ginger” Goodwin was one of the country’s first labour organizers. His murder, at the hands of a hired private policeman outside Cumberland, sparked Canada’s first general strike.
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DL8379
2145 Cliffe Avenue • Courtenay
... see COST ■ A4
Valley advantage? Local gas prices lowest in the province Erin Haluschak
BRIAN
were paid out. Those making less than $75,000 accounted for $6.6 million and $84,541 in expenses. Employee salaries and earnings of elected officials totalled $9,450,765. Expenses were $225,184.
YOU PAY Toyota WHAT WE cmyk PAY
Despite high gas prices at the pumps, Comox Valley motorists can claim they have the lowest gas prices in the province — for now. As of Wednesday, prices across the region were posted at 129.9 cents per litre, a price which Jason Toews, Gasbuddy.com co-founder, calls “pretty cheap.” “Other places nearby, such as Campbell River, have prices at 137.9,” he added. Stations in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland claimed some of the highest prices, sitting at 154.9 per litre. Toews’ website is dedicated to tracking gas prices and trends across Canada and the U.S., and he attributes the lower Valley prices to Costco’s impact in the community. “They are really aggressive in their pricing, and they’ve forced
all of the competition to compete,” he explained. “They lower their prices as far as they have to go to be the cheapest, and other stations are saying ‘no — we’re not going to let you beat us.’” Toews said although other communities – both on Vancouver Island and across the province – have Costco stores, they are not nearly as aggressive with their pricing as they are in the Valley. “In Victoria, it’s a bigger region, there are more gas stations and many are higher than Costco,” he added. Additionally, consumers in Metro Vancouver pay a ninecent transit tax, which is incorporated into the price at the pump. Victoria has a 3.5-cent municipal fuel tax. Despite political uncertainty in Iraq and the Middle East, Toews noted Canada does not use oil at the pumps from those countries, but pump price is influenced by world market prices.
... see GAS ■ A4
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