MORE MONEY FOR MARRYATT

Ho Ho Ho! What has Santa Sideshow Bob got in his sack then?

'Not much' is the answer if you happen to be a mere worker for the Christchurch City Council.They got a dismal 2.7 per cent pay rise for both the 2009-10 and the 2010-11 financial years. Sideshow Bob and his cronies came up with this insulting offer at the last minute - after consistently claiming that it couldn't afford any wage increase at all.

Sideshow Bob 'explained' that in these 'difficult economic times we all had to tighten our belts'.

But in keeping with his philosophy of 'make the rich even richer' Sideshow Bob has given his loyal lieutenant, CEO Tony Marryatt , a nice wee Christmas present - a hefty $18000 salary increase.This is a five percent increase backdated to July 1.

Apparently the ' difficult economic times' aren't so 'difficult' that Marryatt can't be further rewarded for his unswerving loyalty to Sideshow Bob.

While the money mysteriously vanishes when union officials come knocking on Sideshow's door looking for a decent wage increase for their members, the piggy bank comes out of hiding when its time to 'thank' Marryatt.

Marryatt received a massive 22 percent salary increase earlier this year. He is now on $470,400, making him one of the country's highest paid local government CEO's

Councillors Yani Johanson and Sally Buck were the only two councillors to show some integrity and oppose the increase.

What makes this story even more unpalatable is that Marryatt recommended a zero wage increase for council workers.