Ward 1 councillor Michael van Holst says city officials should look at making a council seat a full-time job. (City of London)

A city councillor says London has grown too big to be governed by part-time councillors, arguing the city would be better served by making it a full-time job.

Ward 1 Coun. Michael van Holst is asking the city's governance working group to weigh the pros and cons of the move.

He says councillors would serve the city better if they could put all their efforts into representing their wards.

"When this is your only role, you can be very focused on the job," he said. "You're not distracted by other things."

London's 14 councillors are currently paid just over $51,000 a year, but many hold down full-time jobs in addition to serving on council.

Van Holst, who says he quit teaching to devote himself fully to serving on council, believes full-time councillors better suit a city with a population of 384,000 — based on 2016 census — and is projected to add 77,000 more people by 2035.

The Ward 1 councillor admits moving the council jobs to full-time would raise other questions, including the thorny issue of remuneration.

Right now councillors are paid $51,181. Van Holst admits making it a full time job will mean the salaries would have to rise.

Last week councillors voted themselves a 2.3 per cent pay raise, an indexed increase that was called for two years ago after an independent review of council remuneration.

Van Holst says council and committee meetings could be held during regular business hours. Those meetings typically start in the late afternoon and can go on for hours. "Those late-night meetings may impair decision-making," he said.

Van Holst says upping the pay and moving to fewer councillors would improve the field of candidates..

"You often get what you pay for," he said. "We would need a salary that would attract quality candidates. I think it may lead us to a much more effective governance model," he said.

His idea will be presented in a letter as an item for direction at Tuesday's meeting of the city's corporate services committee.

Van Holst was elected to his council seat in October and in March announced he would seek the nomination to run as the Conservative Party candidate in the federal riding of London-Fanshawe.