Some volunteers get paid. The directors on the Surrey Police Board, for example, are paid an honorarium for their time.
Executive Director Melissa Granum is expected to deliver a Surrey Police Board per diem quarterly update at the board’s next meeting on Tuesday, June 22, concerning the status of the directors’ per diems related to board and committee meetings, training sessions and “other commitments” from January to March of this year.
Granum notes in her report that the SPB directors’ compensation is aligned with that of the Vancouver Police Board and the Delta Police Board.
“The per diem is not to be considered ‘payment’ for board work, rather it is a recognition that Board members’ commitments may take away from professional and personal time,” she explains in her report.
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All together, the eight directors received a total of $38,738 between them for the first three months of 2021. Broken down, Meena Brisard received $7,673, James Carwana received $7,029, Harley Chappell, $2,880, Cheny Cloke, $4,395, Manav Gill, $3,426, Elizabeth Model, $3,699, Bob Rolls, $2,607 and Jessie Sunner, $7,029.
There were 35 meetings in that time – three board meetings, two “special” board meetings, 14 human resources and compensation committee meetings, four governance committee meetings, three finance committee meetings, two communications committee meetings, social media training and five meetings identified as “other.”
The volume and frequency of Board meetings has declined from 2020 and is anticipated to reduce further once SPS reaches ‘steady state’. The monthly average per diem payout (aggregate) in 2020 was $22,114 and in Q1 of 2021, the monthly average has dropped to $12,912.
Granum noted that the volume and frequency of board meetings has declined compared to 2020 and “is anticipated to reduce further” once the Surrey Police Service “reaches ‘steady state.'” She noted the aggregate monthly average per diem payout last year was $22,114. In the first quarter of this year, the monthly average has dropped to $12,912.
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