– It tends towards greed when you find yourself forced to raise around NOK 2 million in fees for doing political work, believes Per Jarle Kosior Valvatne (Ap). He sits in the county council in Vestland together with Terje Søviknes (Frp) and Sigbjørn Framnes (Frp). In the autumn, the two took over as mayors in the municipalities of Bjørnafjorden and Stord. For the job as mayor, they both have an allowance of around NOK 1.1 million. In addition, they have been elected to the county committee. Søviknes is also group leader for the FRP in the county council, and receives NOK 847,000 for his position in county politics. In total, he will thus be paid over NOK 1.9 million for the two posts. Terje Søviknes and Sigbjørn Framnes are both newly elected mayors in Vestland. In addition, both are active in county politics. Photo: Bjørn Inge Bergestuen / Vestland Frp Thinks it is not possible to combine It is on a par with the prime minister, who has a salary of NOK 1.95 million. – You don’t have so much responsibility as a mayor and member of the county committee, that it qualifies for a prime minister’s salary. There are limits to how much you can take from taxpayers’ money to carry out political work, Valvatne believes. He still reacts mostly to the use of time, and thinks it is difficult to attend to all duties in a good enough way. – I would like to believe that the residents of a municipality expect the mayor to stand up for what mayors should stand up for, and that the expectations in the county are the same, he believes. Here from the meeting in the county council in Vestland on 2 November. Terje Søviknes was conspicuous by his absence from the meeting. Sigbjørn Framnes attended one of two meeting days. Photo: Bård Siem / news Marthe Hammer, group leader for SV in the county council, is also among those reacting. – It is unreasonable. It contributes to the fact that the legitimacy of our people’s government is reduced when we have completely different rules for income and allowances than the rest of society has. – I think that people react to the fact that the politicians can have almost 200 per cent of their positions. – Should they give up parts of what they get from the county council? – Absolutely, she replies. Former mayor of Fusa municipality, Atle Kvåle (Ap) sat in 2015 to 2019 both as mayor and on the county council. – Then I had a rule in the Labor Party that I should not have a prominent position in county politics, he says. Both Marthe Hammer (SV) and Per Jarle Kosior Valvatne (Ap) react to the fact that two Frp mayors should have double salary. They believe it violates the intentions of the county council’s own regulations for financial compensation. Photo: Bård Siem / news It’s fine to combine Terje Søviknes (Frp) has a completely different opinion. – They must be happy to react to this. But as long as you do the job in both roles, you should have the same allowances as everyone else, Søviknes believes. He has previously been both mayor in Os municipality and a politician in the then Hordaland county municipality. – As long as the work is done and you are well prepared, I see no problem. I work a lot, both evenings and weekends. I plan to be well prepared for the meeting, says Søviknes. In the regulations of the county council, it is stated that as a member of the county committee, one can only hold up to 70% of the position outside of office. Both Søviknes and Framnes have 100 percent positions as mayors. But since the job of mayor is defined as a “job”, it is not considered a formal breach of the regulations. It also states that you can get a reduction in compensation if you are absent for more than 25 percent of the meeting. – Last week at the latest, I had to prioritize meeting in the county, says the Bjørnafjorden mayor. Framnes participated in one of two meeting days. I believe it is important to have many contacts Stord mayor Sigbjørn Framnes (Frp) receives NOK 1.65 million in total compensation from the municipality and county council. NOK 1.1 million from the municipality, and NOK 548,060 from the county. In addition, Framnes is Hordaland’s deputy representative to the Storting for the FRP. It was Sunnhordland who first wrote about the role of Framnes. To news, Framnes defends the payments from his position. – You can ask anyone you want in the Storting about this. There is no system that captures double duties and how it should be resolved, he believes. The mayor of Stord believes that it is good for a politician to meet in several places, and that this in turn benefits the municipality. – It is about contact networks. But I am not looking to raise double my salary, and am now in dialogue with the administration in the municipality about how they will withdraw me for the days I am in the county council, he says. Municipal director Tommy Johansen in Stord municipality says they are in dialogue with Vestland county council about the total compensation for the mayor. – We have not encountered this problem before. But we are working with the county council to find a solution, Johansen replies. In Bjørnafjorden municipality, municipal director Christian Fotland replies that it is up to the municipal council if they want to regulate the mayor’s salary.
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FRP mayors Framnes and Søviknes get paid twice – news Vestland
