How well does this work? It’s a mixed bag. The professional managers get things done but managed to build a little empire (lots of middle management) which is now hard to dislodge. The non-professional council members couldn’t keep up. Also there are waves of the real estate interest taking over the council for a while and screwing up priorities.

Compared to that, a few who were on the job full time might have been better.

In any case, the office he's running for IS paid. So what exactly is your point? That other elected offices are unpaid? Who cares?

One reason to pay them (not that it works very well) is to make them less susceptible to bribery. In some Third World countries, it's expected that government officials will supplement their income with bribes.