In a room filled with hostile supporters of the Committee to hold Council Accountable, Orangeville council voted Monday night to rescind controversial increases to its honoraria.

Instead, Mayor Rob Adams announced he will move to form a committee to review the process and awarding of council pay raises and make recommendations "for improving the process to ensure openness, public input and transparency."

The independent committee is to report back to Council on January 26, 2009.

The mayor pointed out that council's decision to give itself the pay raises was made during more prosperous times.

"I believe this is a time for leadership," he said. "I have heard taxpayers' concerns and I understand those concerns.

"When Council made the decision to undertake the salary review the economy was in good shape. Recently, the situation with the global economy has changed dramatically.

"People are losing their jobs and retirement investments have dropped dramatically. When I was elected to office, I committed to listen to the people and I have been listening to them at Council meetings and community events. In deciding to increase salaries, Council followed past practices.

"However, it has become clear that the process needs to be reviewed, updated, and changed. We need to make the right decision and taking this action is the right thing to do."

He said that in retrospect, "the [pay] decision by council did not keep pace with the economic meltdown."

Nick Garisto, chairman of the Committee to hold Council Accountable, spoke out during the petitions and delegations phase of the meeting and mentioned that the committee's petition against the pay raises had raised more than 2,600 signatures.

"Citizens feel the way council handled the wage increases was inappropriate," he said. "You all knew the wages when you came in, so stand by them."

Mr. Garisto spoke after hearing Mayor Adams say council would, in fact, stand by the wages they were receiving when elected.

A member of town council from 1997 to 2000 as a councillor and from 2000 to 2003 as deputy mayor, Mr. Garisto is on record as having spoken out in favour of a 33 percent pay increase to councillors in 1998,and was a member of the county council that voted itself a 10 percent increase in 2002.

Later in the meeting, he also insisted that council vote on suggestions presented by spectators in the audience that Mr. Garisto regarded as motions. Such votes are not permitted under the Ontario Municipal Act and have never been part of the way Orangeville council does business.

Each council member addressed the issue of the pay increases, with the exception of Councillor Gail Campbell, who was unable to attend Monday's meeting due to prior commitments.

Councillor Scott Wilson said he supported, and unsuccessfully tried to defend, the increases that would have seen councillors' salaries rise 36.4 per cent to $23,000. (The Deputy Mayor's honorarium would have gone up 49.1 per cent to $30,000 and the mayor's pay would have risen 61.3 per cent to $50,000.)

He did point, however, to the "unintentional and unfortunate timing" of the announcement of the pay raises and agreed they should be rescinded at this point in time.

Mr. Wilson said the responsibilities of the council members "are greater than most may think," adding that Mayor Adams' present honorarium is "on par with a library page."

Under the guidelines of the OMA, Mayor Adams is chief executive officer of the Corporation of the Town of Orangeville and, as such, is ultimately accountable for the fiduciary responsibilities laid out within the parameters of the act.

His current remuneration puts Mayor Adams — who says he dedicates an average of 50 hours a week to his mayoral duties — in the first grade of a 13-grade pay grid for the Town of Orangeville. Even with the raise, his pay standing would not exceed Grade Six.

This argument in support of a pay hike didn't sit well with John Green, who is listed as the media relations officer of the Committee to Hold Citizens Accountable.

Referring to the date that council voted for the pay increases, Mr. Green declared, "Oct. 6 will live in infamy!" He added that the mayor's position is a part-time job and alleged that the vote for the pay raises was illegal.

The vote was taken following an in camera session, and involved the same process followed the last time council voted for a pay raise, a 24 percent overall increase in 2004.

At one point Monday night, the issue of the town's $25 million debt was brought up, along with the fact that cleaning up the mould problem at the Alder Street Recreation Centre is a process that could cost as much as $500,000.

Mayor Adams, who wasn't on council when the debt was amassed, suggested that Mr. Garisto might be in a better position to answer the debt question.

At that point, Mr. Garisto yelled from the gallery that the mayor was not telling the truth and that he was not a council member when any of the debt was taken on. He continued to yell after the mayor asked him to be quiet and was eventually ejected from the chambers.

In fact, Mr. Garisto was deputy mayor in 2002 when the town took out a 20-year, $6 million loan to cover the remaining cost of the Alder rec centre.

The committee proposed by the mayor would include Mr. Garisto and representatives of the Dufferin Area Chamber of Commerce, Orangeville Business Improvement Association, Economic Development Committee, Committee of Adjustment, Library Board, Recreation Committee, Accessibility Committee, the Mayor's Seniors' Advisory Committee, Mayor's Youth Advisory Committee, Heritage Orangeville, Property Standards Committee, the Orangeville Sustainability Action Team, the Transit System Optimization Committee and the Trailways Committee.