INCREASE OPPOSED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 760, 5 September 1929, Page 10

INCREASE OPPOSED

SALARY OF TAKAPUNA’S TOWN CLERK RECOMMENDATION MADE Opposition was raised at the Takapuna Borough Council last evening to a recommendation from the Legal and Finance Committee to increase by £SO a year the salary of the town clerk, Mr. H. L. Bowden. Cr. J. Guiniven said the present salary was £550, with an addition of £25 for the administration of the destructor committee. With the sum proposed, the salary would be £625, an amount he regarded as far in excess of Takapuna’s requirements or ability to pay. “If increases are to be paid, why not start with those at the bottom?” Cr. Guiniven asked. “They admittedly are not receiving adequate amounts. Cr. J. W. Hayden asked if an arrangement had been entered into by the previous council over the question. The Mayor, Mr. J.'W. Williamson, could not recall any undertaking. The advantages to be gained if a report were obtained showing the amounts paid to town clerks and office staffs in other boroughs in Auckland were explained by Cr. L. H Titchener. He considered an increase in salary was justified if it were true that extra work, was being carried out by the town clerk. Cr. Guiniven, seconded by Cr. John Collins, moved the deletion of the recommendation. Cr. Collins said he knew of nothing to justify the increase.

The Mayor: I am prepared to recommend the increase and to face the ratepayers. Cr. Guiniveil’s motion was lost and the recommendation for an increase was carried.