Dedication to the Township—Not the Paycheck!
George Lawrence, former Deputy Mayor and long-time community advocate, criticizes the current Tiny Township Council for awarding themselves excessive salary increases for what is fundamentally a part-time role of public service. He calls the move self-serving, especially given that past councils followed modest, CPI-based increases set for future terms—not their own—and urges voters to elect leaders dedicated to the community, not personal gain. PHOTO CREDIT- Jen Scholte
George Lawrence
5/18/20251 min read
For sixteen years-eight as Chair of a Tiny Township Ratepayers Association-and also eight as Tiny’s Deputy Mayor-I was heavily involved in the Tiny Community. It was my pleasure and duty to serve this community and at no time did I seek to enrich myself because of this service.
I am appalled at the excessive salary increases our current Township Council feels are warranted for what is not only a part time job but also a public service.
The Council I sat on as well as previous and subsequent Councils were so conscientious regarding salary and other remuneration. It was unwritten policy for the current sitting Council to set the salary for the next Council rather than for themselves and we used the Consumers’ Price Index (CPI) as an objective guideline.
Sitting on Tiny Township Council is NOT A FULL TIME JOB. This is evidenced by the fact that each of the current members of Council hold other jobs.
The optics of our current Tiny Council recently setting ITS OWN REMUNERATION is disturbing. However, it is compounded by the fact that their new salary levels are among the highest among all Councils in North Simcoe municipalities, (including Midland, Penetang Tay and Clearview), most if not all of which are much larger and deal with much more complex issues than Tiny Township.
It should also be noted that each of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor draw substantial paychecks from sitting on Simcoe County Council which coincidentally just raised their remuneration by a whopping 167%.
The entire picture is both disturbing and disappointing. We need to elect people who want to serve the community rather than being self serving.
As Tiny taxpayers, WE DESERVE BETTER -- MUCH BETTER!!
George Lawrence- 16 years on Tiny Council, 8 Years as Deputy Mayor and long-time resident of Tiny Township.
