Corporation of Hamilton members deserve “remuneration” as they have far greater responsibilities and a heavier workload than previous administrations, according to Alderman Carlton Simmons.He told The Royal Gazette he commissioned a report on salaries at the behest of the Corporation’s council after it became clear elected members were struggling to juggle their day jobs and the requirements of City Hall.The report recommended that Mayor Graeme Outerbridge receive $75,000 annually and that aldermen and common councillors get $42,000 and $30,000, respectively.Mr Simmons would not disclose what consultant Professor Calvin Okang Shabazz was paid for his 16-page report (which can be read in full at www.royalgazette.com) but described it as an “excellent” document.“The object was what would be an appropriate scale of pay for what we do in the context of the community. I think in that regard it has been successful.”Professor Shabazz was one of two consultants asked to produce a report by the Corporation. The other, whom Mr Simmons would not name, submitted an incomplete report which has not been tabled before the council.Mr Outerbridge and his team, including Mr Simmons, were elected to run the capital last May, after changes to the law allowed residents of the city to vote for the first time.Mr Simmons said the focus of the municipality had now shifted to North Hamilton and that meant a lot of work was needed to improve a long-neglected area.“The last administration didn’t have the level of responsibility we have. We were voted in by the residents and the people who were clearly, visibly neglected. We have to now, in three years, do what took our predecessors 100 years to do and we still have to cater to the business community.“The workload has increased dramatically because our predecessors did not have the burden of responsibility that we do.”The alderman, who runs charity Youth on the Move, said he worked anywhere between 20 and 50 hours a week on City Hall matters and had been forced to miss family activities because of that.“I accepted it as a voluntary role [but] we didn’t know the degree of time it would take. We didn’t know because ordinary people had never been given the opportunity to enter these corridors.”He said new council members had found it difficult to fulfil all that was expected of them at City Hall and do their day jobs.“We are looking to get compensation for the time we spend away from our jobs and our families. [We commissioned the report] when we realised that we were having difficulties to get all the members around the table as often as needed.”Mr Simmons said Professor Shabazz was recommended by City Hall colleagues and provided proof of his credentials, including his business PhD, plus a list of work carried out for other organisations.“He is the least paid consultant that we have had in the entire time that we have been here. We have had tons of consultants.”He said he refused to “single out” Professor Shabazz by revealing what he was paid, adding: “If the Country would like to know what we pay all our consultants, then they have a right to know and we should do it en masse.”The council has yet to fully digest the report, he added, but he said he believed it was in its powers to implement the recommendations.“I know we have a right to govern, to conduct the business of the Corporation of Hamilton,” said Mr Simmons.He questioned why the elected officials of Hamilton should be treated differently to other elected politicians in Bermuda, who are remunerated. And he said some Corporation managers received salaries of more than $180,000.“If you want the quality of leadership to be at a standard to be held to account, then it [remuneration] will be required.”Useful website: www.cityhall.bm