Peter Kelly, former Halifax mayor, conducts Charlottetown council pay review

City councillors in Charlottetown are getting a bump in pay thanks to a non-tendered independent review that was conducted by Peter Kelly, the former mayor of Halifax.

Kelly served as mayor between 2000 and 2012, but did not reoffer in 2012 after being embroiled in controversies toward the end of his time as mayor. The controversies included theHalifax Commonconcert scandalwhere a promoter was advanced $400,000 without the knowledge of Halifax council, as well as criticism over how he handled hisrole as executor of the estate of a Bedford woman.

Roy Main, Charlottetown's chief administrative officer, said Kelly was sought out to perform areview of local councillors' pay because of his knowledge and experience.

"It was an issue of looking for people who understood the business and Peter has extensive knowledge. He's still involved in local government," said Main.

Last September, Kelly began working as the CAO of Westlock, a county in Alberta.

Clifford Lee, Charlottetown's mayor, says council reached out to numerous people in the Charlottetown area to do the review, but nobody was interested. He says a few council members were tasked with coming up with some names.

"Peter's namewas one of the names we thought of and [we] touched base with him and he was willing to do it," said Lee.

Lee says that he had dealings with Kelly when Kellywas Halifax's mayor.

The review wasn't put out to tender because its value was less than what is required under Charlottetown's tendering and procurement policy, says Lee.

"It was a small contract," he said andpegged its value at "a couple thousand dollars."

No mention of mayor in bio

In the section of the 26-pagereview containing the author biography, Kelly does notidentify himself as the former mayor of Halifax. He mentionsthat he has more than 30 years of "senior management and consultant experience," as well as his work on many boards and committees which hasleft "lasting legacies during his public and private sector work."

Kelly said while his authorbiographymade no mention of his time as an elected official, it points out that he has extensive experience in municipal government.

"It's one that if one knows the name as you do, it's also well known as well," he told CBC News on Tuesday.

Kelly saidthis was the first time he conducted consulting salary review work for a municipality, but said he has done other consulting work for businesses.The recent work for Charlottetown involved travel to the city, said Kelly, adding the reportwas done on his own time.

Kelly's recommendations were accepted by Charlottetown council Monday evening.

"I think that speaks for council's satisfaction with his report being fair and thorough and reasonable. He looked at all the forms of compensation, from monetary to benefits," said Main.

Review findings

The review found growingexpectationsand demands on councillors outside of attending regular meetings. Asurvey ofsimilar-sized cities found the mayor, deputy mayor and councillorsin Charlottetown weregetting paid up to 12 per cent below the average.

Effective immediately, themayor's salary will be increased by $7,000, councillors by $6,000 and the deputy mayor by $5,000.

Council members will also be receiving the same benefits package as the city's non-union management employees.

The last compensation review for Charlottetown council happened in 2007.