– I was aware of that when I was elected. I have long believed that politicians should be better paid, says mayor of Bokn municipality, Osmund Våga. Bokn municipality is idyllically located a little south of Haugesund in Rogaland. This is where you disembark if you are going by ferry from Mortavika to Arsvågen on the E39. But besides this, Bokn is known for agriculture and fishing. Mayor of Bokn, Osmund Våga, in his small office at the town hall. Photo: Thomas Halleland / news The office is small. It is a big contrast to Oslo Mayor Marianne Borgen’s office in Oslo City Hall. One of the country’s smallest municipalities With just over 800 inhabitants and an area of 47 square kilometers, Bokn is one of the country’s smallest municipalities. Osmund Våge (Sp) is the mayor who earns the least with his NOK 638,000 annual salary for a 100% position. – Do you think it is slightly more comfortable to be mayor in Bokn than in Oslo? – There are probably a few smaller things to be involved in, he says. Bokn is one of the smallest municipalities in the country. Photo: Thomas Halleland / news In fact, the municipality has decided that the next mayor will receive a salary increase of 20 per cent. This means that the next mayor in Bokn will earn around NOK 766,000. Other bowls in the capital – Who brings flowers? Marianne Borgen sits wearing a half-length, red dress at a large meeting table, with a pen and a timetable in her hands. Together with five other employees – she goes through the plan they have laid out for today and the days ahead. Marianne Borgen and the staff are making plans for marking this year’s Pride in Oslo. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news They discuss the laying of flowers to mark last year’s terrorist attack, the raising of the Pride flag with the crown prince at the town hall and a visit from South Korea’s parliament. Marianne Borgen in Oslo is Norway’s highest paid mayor. She earns NOK 1.518 million a year. Almost NOK 900,000 more than Våga. But, if Borgen had won a majority on his proposal in the Oslo city council to cut his own salary earlier this month, there would have been just over NOK 350,000 between the mayors from the autumn. It’s busy being the mayor of Oslo. Here she welcomes a delegation from South Korea’s parliament. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news Then SV proposed to cut the salary of the mayor and city council leader by 400,000. Borgen points out that the office of mayor is a heavy and responsible managerial job, but is also concerned with reducing the pay gap in society. That is why Borgen himself has several times advocated reducing politicians’ salaries. – I have thought for a long time that we should be very careful about getting too high salaries for politicians. I have long proposed reducing the salaries of politicians in our city, says Borgen. Mayor Borgen has many tasks with great variety during a working week. She often works every day of the week. Works late and often But she finds it difficult to answer whether she works harder and more than other mayors in Norway. – We are the largest city and municipality in the country. In addition, I have a number of extra tasks. But I can’t answer whether I work more than others, she says. In 2022, she gave, among other things, 225 speeches and participated in 334 representative missions outside the town hall. Marianne Borgen and Crown Prince Haakon. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news Fortunately, she gets energy from being out meeting people, she says. – It is an incredibly exciting and fun job. And it is very diverse, she says. She does not want to comment on Våga i Bokn’s mayor’s salary, but is in any case clearly aware that she earns too much in her position as mayor of Oslo. – We should have a review of executive salaries in our municipality, also in the public sector, she believes. She receives support for this view from the Red party. Their top candidate in Sunndal municipality in Møre og Romsdal, Silje Alise Ness, believes that the mayor’s salary should be equal to the average in the municipality they live in. – The politicians sit and decide their own salary, we think that is wrong. We want to get more control over this, and get it put down, says Ness. Rødt believes that today’s mayors serve too well, Raudt believes that today’s mayors serve too well. Now they are choosing to earn less. Silje Alise Ness is the party’s top candidate in Sunndal. Photo: OLE ERIK LOE Not surprisingly, Anne Lise Fimreite is a professor at the Department of Politics and Administration at the University of Bergen. She is not surprised by the large salary differences among mayors. – There is an enormous difference between these municipalities, says Fimreite. Fimreite does not believe that municipalities are a good basis for comparison to begin with. – Local politics is local politics. The mayor’s salary should be determined by the conditions and the politicians in the relevant municipality, Fimreite believes. Political commentator, Trond Birkedal, understands that the municipality must be allowed to determine the mayor’s salary, but nevertheless believes that there should not be such a big difference in salary. – No matter how big the municipality is, the responsibility of a mayor is substantial. This should be reflected in the salary. You should try to find a system where you get paid for the responsibility you have that is the same from municipality to municipality, he says.
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Marianne Borgen in Oslo earns NOK 900,000 more than Osmund Våga in Bokn – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
