A TOWN CLERK'S SALARY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22131, 10 June 1935, Page 12

A TOWN CLERK'S SALARY

Sir, —In your report of the meeting of the Tuakau Town Board, and th« discussion which took place thercal upon the proposal to reduce the salarj of the town clerk, several reference! were made to myself, and I would W glad if you would allow me to correct some of the (reported) statement** When the Town Board was formed i* 1914 I was appointed acting-clerk at £4O per annum. When the board g°< into full working order application! for the position of town clerk wert called for, at a salary of £l5O _pe f annum, and I received the appoint' ment. The duties comprised those oi town clerk, traffic inspector, noxious weeds inspector, health officer, dog taJ collector, and returning officer. U'w the Town Hall was built 1 provide office accommodation for the board free of charge. Up to 1932 the salary ot £l5O was quite satisfactory to me, an when the slump came 1 was quite agreeable to the reduction to £l4O P* ! annum. With the advent of the in* employment Board a large amount o extra work was thrown upon local bouj clerks, and 1 had to administer the ><>• 4A, the No. 48, and the No. 5 schemes, not only for the Tuakau town dis trie i but for the northern portion of Raglan County and the southern portion 0 Franklin County as well. For sirniia work an unemployment official in neighbouring town was getting a salary of £4 per week, doing unemployineni work only. I received no extra a" 0 *? mice from the Unemployment Board. I did the work for some months uu* found it increasing so rapidly that 1 a vised the then chairman ot the boa of my intention to resign unless work was adequately paid for. or administration of the rnemployee work outside the Town District *' off my hands. 1 did not demand a increase of salary for my work as . clerk. The proposal to increase tM salary of the clerk was made a had left the board. I was subsequ elected a member of the board, made chairman thereof. When tliv- P posal to increase the salary o clerk came up the above-mentionec employment schemes had bee . ■ ished, and several of the > ns P cc , g<J duties taken off the clerk s u • I opposed the increase, which * ;tbol] | ried, but not unanimously.the outside unemployment «<> j. position was, in my opinion, adequat paid for at £l5O per