– Should have had a fairer remuneration – VG

In 2020, the municipality of Fræna and the municipality of Eide were merged into the municipality of Hustadvika. The former mayor of Fræna, Tove Henøen (Sp), was elected mayor of the new municipality during the 2019 municipal elections.

Between October and December 2019, she received double pay, as the old position of mayor expired at the end of the year and she joined the new position of mayor in Hustadvika after the September elections.

It was NRK Møre og Romsdal who first covered the case. Romsdals Budstikke, who has also brought up the case, writes that the project manager for the municipal merger of Eide and Fræna sent an email to the county governor of Møre og Romsdal in November 2019 with questions on how to calculate the fee for the mayor Henøen.

The project manager’s question was: “If there had been two different people, both would probably have been entitled to the mayoral fees in 2019. With us, Tove Henøen holds both mayoral positions. Is she then entitled to two fees?”

Municipal Director Per Sverre Ersvik in Hustadvika Municipality confirms to VG that he wrote in a note to the presidency that “the feedback was that Henøen was entitled to remuneration for both positions until 2019.”

At the same time, the county governor emphasized in a November 13 meeting that what the mayor should have in compensation is up to the municipality, according to Romsdals Budstikke.

When asked by VG if she was right to accept double fees, Mayor Tove Henøen responds:

– Basically, I think it is correct to receive remuneration for the work I have done.

Henøen further says that she, as mayor, should lead by example.

– I understand that we should have had a transitional regulation in which one received a fairer remuneration during the transition period.

– Morally poor judgment

Last week, group leader Johnny Varhol (Frp) sent a letter to the municipality’s presidency asking about the morale of receiving the double quota, and whether the mayor is exempt from the savings he says the municipality faces.

– I think it is morally bad judgment when we have to save on the weakest in society, Varhol tells VG.

He also says that he reacts to the fact that she has taken out 250.00 crowns as fees, and assures that it has happened without having been informed of the payments in the presidency or in the municipal council.

According to Varhol, it is more problematic because other remunerations to politicians must be approved by the municipal council.

Now he is waiting for his questions to be raised in the presidency next Thursday, and says he is then waiting for a statement from the mayor on why he took out a double rate.

The case will also be discussed in the municipality’s control commission on Friday.

Group leader Jan Arve Dyrnes in the Labor Party tells VG that they too react to double payments.

– We await a proper and serious treatment of the case. We take it very seriously. For us, it’s about the confidence of all politicians in Hustadvika, says Dyrnes.

Not just about double rates

Mayor Henøen tells VG that several elected representatives in the new municipality have received double fees.

– Also group leaders who have been re-elected, fixed with a double fixed rate, such as Varhol in Frp. He was group leader in Fræna and was re-elected to Hustadvika. In this way, he also received double allowances for the rest of the year in both municipalities.

– Is there a slight difference in size between the fee you received and the mayor fee you received?

– Yes, there is a difference between being a full-time politician and a part-time politician.

– What do you think is ethically and morally correct in your case?

– I understand that people think that it is a lot of money when it comes to a full-time politician, who has double positions. But in principle it is the same for others who had permanent positions in an old municipality and then were elected to the new municipality and obtained a permanent position. In the name of hindsight, I see that a transitional regulation could probably have been created.

Henøen also says that she is open to changing the regulations, but that she must depend on the municipal council to make that happen.

Tight budget

The municipal director, Per Sverre Ersvik, tells VG that it is no secret that the municipality will enter a demanding budget process by 2021.

– In such a process, of course it is important to consider all the measures that can reduce our costs. But there is no connection between those cases, Ersvik says, adding:

– Our payment of fees to politicians in Eide, Fræna and Hustadvika in 2019 is not what makes us have to reduce our expenses to reach the budget goal for 2021.

– Couldn’t you have had a little more resources for the 2021 budget if double rates were not paid to politicians in 2019?

– Yes, if you had spent 250,000 less in 2019, you would have had a 250,000 better result for 2019, yes. We would probably have the same financial challenges for 2021, but with a little more money in our disposal fund.

Correction: In the first version of this case it was stated that «I the minutes of the meeting for the municipal board meeting in the municipality of Hustadvika on September 26, however, it is recorded that Varhol was present when it was decided that the mayor of the municipality of Hustadvika “receives severance pay with a salary of up to 3 months” . However, this is only about the severance pay that the mayor would have received if she had resigned as mayor of Hustadvika municipality, and is not related to double payments.