This week I was asked to participate in a Careers Afternoon Carousel for second year students. Since my dear friend, a teacher, invited me to take part I must admit I have been very excited. Armed with a stack of newspapers I planned to go in guns blazing and convince all of these impressionable 13-year-olds that reporting is one hell of a career. You get to hold power to account, meet interesting people doing interesting things, cover events you might not otherwise have attended, type until your fingers bleed. But since news broke that senior staff at Glasgow City Council are receiving substantial payments, I’m having second thoughts.

Realistically kids, you should become a solicitor - but don’t stop there, I’ll say. Become a solicitor, and work your way up to becoming a chief executive. Once at the top, you can earn upwards of £224,690 per year, regardless of a cost of living crisis or £107 million black hole in the local authority budget. Even better, when you take early retirement, leave on a six-figure exit package.

Those students might look up at me wild-eyed. There’s no way that’s a real job, they will think, shuffling off to learn about working at the Barclays Campus. But it is! Look at Annemarie O’Donnell. She retired from Glasgow City Council in May, aged 59, and was given a £357,845 contribution to her pension. This is after years spent earning 7.5 times the average Glasgow salary. Elaine Galletly, former director of Legal and Administration, got a nearly £60,000 compensation payment for loss of office and her annual pension contributions were bumped up to just over £223,000.

When council leader Susan Aitken and her deputy Ricky Bell discovered these exit deals, they are said to have been furious. The local authority is now bringing in a KC and external auditors to review the deals. I am also furious. In the near decade that the SNP has run Glasgow City Council, its favourite jab at the previous Labour administration is pointing out all of the ludicrous golden goodbyes they handed out. Lest we forget the £500,000 package Ronnie Saez, the outgoing head of charity Glasgow East Regeneration Agency, was handed by Labour councillors in 2012.

When news broke about Ms O’Donnell and her colleagues, the SNP Glasgow Group said the officers “who awarded themselves enhancements to their already generous pensions did it behind the backs of elected politicians” knowing “perfectly well” that senior councillors would not have signed them off.

“Before becoming the City Administration, the SNP repeatedly called out those massive pay-offs awarded to departing senior officials within the council and arms-length bodies and often signed off by Labour councillors,” a senior SNP source added. It was described as a massive betrayal of trust “by those with the power to create their own rules and the position not to have to bring them forward for scrutiny.” A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said the local authority “has never had a process whereby enhanced terms for individual senior officers are approved by councillors”. Meanwhile, council Labour leader George Redmond told the Daily Record that himself and colleague Paul Carey received a “chilling” letter alleging they have a “target” on their back for asking questions about the exit payments.

Pull it together, honestly. Who is steering this ship? Why has the council never had a process whereby enhanced terms for individual senior officers are approved by councillors? Why does anyone in the council, regardless of their position, have the power to create their own rules without scrutiny? What is the point in having elected officials if there’s another administration operating in the shadows, feathering their nests with our council tax, completely devoid of scrutiny? Surely, if you spent your election campaign repeatedly calling out massive golden goodbyes for senior officials, the first thing you would do is put some safeguards in place to stop it from happening again under your watch? It’s embarrassing.

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At least now, after decades of these shenanigans, I understand a new process is being implemented to ensure that councillors are (in the very least) given oversight from now on. But alas, trust, like Humpty Dumpty, cannot always be put back together again. While Labour and the SNP fight over who has fattened the fattest cats, an even more dangerous beast lies in wait. Because when trust in the local authority is broken beyond repair, it’s the anti-establishment parties that people will turn to.

We’re watching it unfold in council by-elections across the country. Reform UK achieved third place in all three Glasgow by-elections on November 21, which took place in Drumchapel/Anniesland, Maryhill, and North East wards. Parts of the city where six-figure salaries are uncommon, to say the least. Reform plans to mimic the Lib Dems’ hyperlocal strategy, blanketing communities with leaflets and winning local council seats. We will soon see them get involved in local issues, petitions and causes, winning the trust of the disillusioned from the ground up. The more tomfoolery that goes on behind the scenes in the local authority, the more fringe, far-right nut jobs will end up taking sitting councillors’ jobs. And that will only be the beginning. Scottish Parliament elections are two years of a Donald Trump presidency away.

On second thought, I have had a change of heart. I will burst into Career Day, guns blazing, singing about the importance of local journalism to these youngsters. We need the fourth estate now more than ever. And with 450 education jobs at stake because of Glasgow City Council’s gaping budget hole, the last thing we need is another litter of pigs at the trough.

Marissa MacWhirter is the editor of The Glasgow Wrap. Each morning, Marissa curates the top local news stories from around the city, delivering them to your inbox at 7am daily so you can stay up to date on the best reporting without ads, clickbait or annoying digital clutter. Oh, and it’s free. She can be found on X @marissaamayy1