Tofino News will be on CBC radio just after the 8 am news tomorrow....will be talking about the dismissal of Sally Mole and the bungled "Corporate Re-Structuring " or whatever it is.........
You sure like making assumptions Ralph. Guilty until provent innocent. And now you're going to rub this towns face in it without all the info. Sometimes information is privy to a select few for a reason, if decisions were to be made always with the input and involvement of the public then there would be no progress, sometimes change hurts. All I ask is that you are carfull not to diss respect the community as a whole.
and sometimes there is a shituation that is pure filth but one cannot name names. the current council doesnt have a clue why they did this. unless they can explain in plain english something about it that we can all understand and accept. ill be the first to eat my hard hat if the truth is outed eventually and proves were just a bunch of ill-informed weenies.
2:18, I'm not sure which councilor you are but I truly believe that Ralph has no intention of disrespecting this community. He may however disrespect this council and mayor and CAO. Only because THEY disrespected this community with their poorly executed and thought out DISRESPECTED "plan".
2:18 you must have been one of the many members of the "community as a whole" who were at the council meeting to show their support for the restructuring.
I think we need to see why these things are happening and most importantly, we need to be open. As a group we don't know all the facts but we can hold them accountable!
The current council is on its last legs and voters should take a moment to write in their calendar who not to vote for in the next election.
This is about eliminating senior staff and replacing them with lower paid workers in "new" positions that will qualify for RMI funding. Let's hope they don't do the same thing with Public Works.Sure it saves money but the service will suffer.
I went to the meeting the other night thinking it was going to feel like a funeral for Sally and parks & rec. I left the meeting thinking it was actualy a funeral for council. RIP, your term is officaly dead.
Hey 3:35, Correct me if I'm wrong but was Sally not already working with rmi funds on the Lighthouse trail, the new (and awsome!) bike park not to mention a new trail contract that has just begun??? What the hell do we need a "resort services dept." for? Just asking.
This seems to be the concensus and the first to go was a staff member who had constant problems with a previous mayor and one council member.Probably just a coincidence but that's an assumption.
Parks and Rec were working with RMI funds but their wages were paid from general taxation.While it was said at the question and answer period that this wasn't about cutting costs I have to question that. I'm curious to see if the new jobs funded with RMI money will be union or management or contract workers.
1218 here. I am not a councilor. I am a taxpayer and am therefore entitled to my opinion. Without information I am also left with making assumptions and, sadly I do agree that there is a lack of transparency in the political system. I was not at the meeting and am disappointed the community was not given answers however, I would like to assume our council are not idiots and have instead walked into a shit storm
hey i dont unnerstan how eliminating a dedicated and well respected long term employee in order to hire new cheaper people is part of the RMI funding mandate. if it is let us know in black and white. and if the frenzy to grab this RMI money creates this type of thinking and actions in contravention of the welfare of the spirit of the community this deal needs to be re-thunk. im confused that the alleged corporate re-structuring was done with this RMI money in mind or is this a clumsy excuse for something else? just drink the kool-aid dammit!
2:18 the select few maybe are going to, by corporate re-structuring, de-certify tofino(de-unionize it)by converting it to the glorious city state of a resort municiplity. is this why its secret? cod, i hope so. if not this is the end of credibility period. headlines read: tofino is the end of the world!
The current RMI formula for funding is: 70 % for tourism related projects 20% for festivals and tourism related events 10 % for operational expenses (wages)
There is no need for structural changes to government to be discussed in-camera . The employment repercussions of structural changes should be discussed in-camera.
A large portion of this so called re-organization could have been done with public input . The amount of the RMI money ( the 10 % operational )used for the new position will be lost to where it is being applied now so will there really be a savings to the taxpayer ? If council had maintained the commitment to transparency we wouldn't be in this deplorable situation. The RMI funding should be a blessing and not a curse.
in the navy theres the official version of whats going on which everyone knows is bullshit and then theres what is called scuttlebutt which is what really is going on, like where the ship is heading and what are they going to do there. here the bullshit is all over the place. it takes this blog, lawyers, mass confusion, diligence, and the publics unrelenting curiosity to figure out the scuttlebutt which isnt pretty. theres some abuse of process, chicanery, lack of transparency, stubbornness, bad/insufficient/no information, bad math, and a few other management requisites at work on the elected employees parts. any number of transgressions to the absolute obeyance of authority on our blogee parts. and a big mess. if this is the way restructuring happens lets just re-think it and wait until it can be a community involved process like the OCP. like whats the hurry? why now?
Something just does not seem right about "information is privy to a select few for a reason."
I would think that journalism in the past was striving towards being a check and balance on the other political pillars of our societal governance. It may be a distant memory due to the "corporate" restructuring of the journalistic practice to a peddler of advertising influenced (nay muzzled) by multi-millionaire owners with their own agendas.
In comes technology with its unexpected consequences for better or for worse. The internet fascillitates micro journalism due to its low entry fee.
There is something to be said about a strong monetary backing to the classic investigative journalism of old. It matters how devoted "the money" was to the manipulation or the truth. Debate on objectivity is a whole other thing. That is the struggle of current citizens' journalism. The high standard is diluted by the low barrier of entry hence almost everyone with internet access piping in.
However, every once in a while, it also creates a brilliant, unexpected format of communication that feels very timely. Anonymous or not, a debate occurs. A whole spectrum of people from serious, angry, livid, to ignorant, amused, witty, geniue, to obviously trying to piss people off whether they believe in their own words or not, and all that.
around here when theres a wreck the ambulance is usually called. in the political sense we need a repair service. names are called but it doesnt do any good. this political wreck needs to be fixed. any helpful hints how to go about restoring some good here?
hey, i know...lets have a contest. no, seriously, lets have a public performance review each year for the councillors. afterall they are paid to perform right? this is justice right? if this a de facto performance review of the current councils handling of a few things, well---you know.
i just looked up outside to see where the meteor shower was. saw one meteor. either my eyes have done something funny or the stars have recently lit up in technicolor like discoteks. they used to be plain white except for mars. or am i seeing truth for the first time. whats this got to do with politics. not much.
This whole mess is because one councillor didn't like the budget of Parks and Rec. He stated so during the All Candidates meeting. He created this mess.
I keep looking back at the original post on Dec. 2. (district press release) and can't believe the wording and structure of it. Do the people that seem to think they are in charge really think that they can baffle people with terms like "organizational alignment with the corporate stratigic plan". It talks about "budget alignment". And yet according to Mr. Steven's report from the recent budget meeting that he attended the district clearly didn't have their budget "aligned". The number of citizens that were at the council meeting on Tuesday were clearly indicitive, in my opinion, as to the opinion of Tofitians regarding Tofino council's latest decicion to terminate the Parks and Rec director and disband the entire department. To stand before a community that elected them to represent them, council clearly did not have a very clear "stratigic plan" as they did not have any answers to back up their decision. I'm quite sure that the people of Tofino will not back down and forget.
i really like how people hide behind anonymous,he usually had great words of wisdom. Change there with out answers hurt so much most of the real people whom were there for the real progress had enough of the BS,and have moved out of the illusion Keep on Keepin On Ralph :)
Hope someone lets council know that you did on CBC today what they should be doing .... communicating.
All we want is a clear concise idea of what they are doing. We don't want gobbledygook. I am sure we are able to look at a plan and decide if it's a good plan or not. So far there is no actual evidence of a plan.
First time reading your blog Ralph. Amazed at all the people that hide behind anonymous. Dec. 13, 2012 2:18 made a simple oposition comment with some worry. Well written, maybe not a popular opinion, but overall nothing wrong with it. No one was attacked, no hateful words strewn about... Anonymous? Really? Half the reason council and others get up in arms about Ralph's blog is because people sling thier slander then hide behind anonymous. It is also the reason that council doesn't take this site seriosly, they have not been voted in or out by anonymous, they were voted in by people with names and identities. So in this I say, 'include your name, state an opinion, voice some emotion. Watch how you say it maybe if you are concerned how others might view your opinions. But own what you are saying. Others will listen more if they know it is a person writing to them. And as Ralph mentioned get involved, show up, write a letter.
Also as I read on... The council has to follow a structure. There will be a hire and fire process. As I sit here in my ignorance of what this process may or may not be I will say that the position being terminated was a union position. And therefore to terminate it would not be an easy job. Or at least it would be an easy paper trail to follow other than privacy issues. But privacy is usually in place to protect the employee not the business so much. Just had to voice my curious ignorance. So if I am wrong in this assumption please correct me.
You have a great point about anonymity. However, when council chooses to discuss things in-camera that do not legally have to be, they are in effect hiding behind a veil of anonymity and achieve zero personal accountability.
It's too bad that the community charter affords them their anonymity.
This HAS to end.
Not much difference really between them and the bloggers.
i can asure cory that theres thought afoot to have maybe a online system to register non nonymous comments on issues with council before they vote on some things excluding in-camera. its about time. the current mess is exactly why anybody who may do anything in the future chooses to remain anonymous: there is the distinct possibility that terminating sally was retribution for exercising her right to disagree with elements of council & mayor. crafting the baloney of this corporate re-structuring with the result of eliminating 1 person, sally, looks like it was the only purpose considering nobody remembers a policy adopted to undertake this; its not a direction of the OCP; there wasnt notice or public input; it doesnt LOOK like it reflects any support for "community sustainability", in fact the opposite if anybody would have taken the time to think about it or get input from the public at an open house or town hall meeting. furthermore the projected budget savings may be spurious considering the unintended consequences of this unpopular of an type of action. for example: bullheaded adherence by DOT refusing to compromise or ameliorate the yew wood lawsuit. which DOT lost. oops for example; same thing with rosie bay estates lawsuit. it appears this is a losing position also. 2 examples of the probable results of the concept of what seems like wilful refusal to understand that stubbornness is very costly to the tax payer. we still see the results of retribution of the yew wood business in DOT not using the services of a local firm involved. lots of money wasted. i digress of course. (this is freedom of speech cory. the opposite of blind obedience to authority, religion, or dogma) neither of the foregoing expense items were part of a budget process, vision, or common sense or policy procedure. neither was the current sewer mess with esowista. by the way, anonymous is an internet identity for........
Who has thrown in their names for the mayors race? I haven't but I will vote. My full time career has me out of town way to much to take on the responsibility. How many here on the blog are willing to run 0,1,2? Its easy to back seat drive. I agree things are a mess. But we all have to be willing to help change things not just sit in the peanut gallery and continue to point out the obvious short comings. Its sad Ralph isn't running because like him or not he does care about Tofino and its well being. You have to admit he would be a good strong mayor or councillor. My .02, back to lurking in the shawdows. Happy holidays to all..
1124, this thought afoot sounds good! There needs to be a medium where by public has input on decisions like this, even if we don't have all the info. Sometimes perspective is important and operating without public input, especially in a small town like think, can be very harmful. I hope Sally's position was not removed because of a grudge and further more a lack of motivation on councils behalf to press with clear explanations of why. If the community is to give council feedback then it cannot be from anonymous sources and yes, I would gladly give input.
Cory. It has been said before but it is worth saying again.
1. If you do not like the blog then don't read it or start your own.
2. We voted anonymously for our council and Mayor.....you know when you went behind the curtain to cast your vote and did not have to identify yourself on your ballot ?! There is a reason for the process being this way...
3. Ignore the posts that seem to you to be offensive for whatever reason. You are not the comment police and if they truly libel then the person affected will have recourse in the courts.
4. It is not important that Council does not take this blog seriously. With that said, Council has taken direct action from revelations on this blog on more than enough occasions. Just ask Bob Long. Not as quickly as Councillors in Yellowknife, who must have been some free thinkers, who realized he was not the guy to have as a CAO.
Thank you Ralph for pointing out management vs union position.. here here George good point as well about council hiding behind the same thing. And to anonymous with the point of freedom of speech... really? Freedom of speech is the right to voice your opinion without retribution or fear of retribution and if council (or others) were to take up against someone for something they said... that would be an attack against your rights. So yes it might be something that goes on (hopefully not here) but to make it okay by hiding behind anonymity is what kills freedom of speech. Am quite confused at your comment about freedom of speech and therefore I guess freedom being the opposite of blind obedience to authority, religion or dogma. Because that is what freedom is... to be able to follow authority, religion or dogma... or not as your own beliefs dictate. And to public forum to oppose such things as well and not be prosecuted. I understand it always doesn't work as we like it but that is the point, stand up and own your beliefs. Thanks Ralph for the space to rant and rave as we will. I have so much more to comment but this isn't my blog so I leave the space for others.
Cory do you live in a small town? With the previous council if you spoke out the bylaw officer paid you a visit and your name would be removed from committees. Some of us speak out with our names and some of us do not because we may have more to loose.
cory. i have no idea who you are in person. you are anonymous to me. you could be gustaf dore. creative license on a blog annoys you if you have the idea that freedom is obeying authority. its ok to let go of fixed ideas here. ok. do no harm. awake! and yes some postive changes seem to have occurred in waterworks due to this blogs input and output coverage and factual revelations by anonymous et al. anonymous is one person. we are all one. the government is us. the government is cory.
Interesting that people post anonymously for fear of reprisal from DOT, yet will identify a councillor who's business has nothing to do with his non decisions while on council, and yet will threaten to boycott his business?
It seems quite obvious that if these business operators arn't willing to support what our community wants and believes strongly in then our community certainly won't support them. That's fair.
On another thread there was a comment along the lines of "getting rid of this bunch for a new council". Who, who in there right mind would run knowing that if they make a decision that people don't agree with, that people are going to boycott their business. Or threaten their job. Good luck finding anyone to run.
Is there a connection between Sally's departure and the organization positions Braden created.
More specifically, I would like to know how the new positions and titles effect remuneration. It seems like the new job titles came with new salaries. To be honest can we afford these salaries?
My idea would be to create groups of people to support staff... When there are problems create mediation group of prominent local people who care about Tofino. Basically, anything to lower our costs.
I listened with interest to this morning's interview, and grateful for the link to your blog. It was as if you were speaking about me and the horrible situation in my Town.
I wonder if I can find the guts to actually post this; if you are reading now, then I guess I've taken the plunge and the devil take the hindmost...
I too was ' terminated without just cause' recently. Initially it was disguised as 'restructuring'. However, since no settlement or even notice was in the offering, I was left with no choice but to seek legal council. Because of the ongoing lawsuit, I am posting this anonymously (sorry Cory).
I had been employed by a small Town municipality in a similar management position for 22 plus years. Then, without warning, I was told my position was ended. I had had a good career I was proud of, with no complaints or letters from public or Council. When let go, I was told it was a unanimous Council decision, but no real details of why, other than something about restructuring and saving money. The CAO hinted there was more(?) Then an assistant manager in my department was immediately hired to fill my position at almost half the pay with reduced hours. The title is different, but the job is basically the same. There was no press release or chance for public input. I have been heartbroken and confused ever since.
This development in Tofino leaves me wondering where the blueprint for getting rid of long term municipal employees came from? I have lately begun to hear rumours of the Town deciding it was time to ' take back the power'. Is this what happens when Council sees a manager, usually long term and mostly unsupervised doing a job almost too well? Are they assuming we are arrogant and further, perceived as acting unaccountably?
I hope your Town folk will find a way through the murk and help people like Sally and myself get our lives back. At the very least, it would be great if we thought our Town leaders and community actually recognized and valued the hard work we did for all those years. Even with the support of many individuals here that are also outraged at what has happened to me, it's been so hard to keep living in a Town that feels like its betrayed me.
Thanks for keeping up the fight; your blog gives me hope that people do care and that there may yet be justice..
Many a brilliant author, journalist, activist, etc. went by a pen name throughout literary history. It is nothing new. This is but one narrow example but the Bronte sisters published under male pen names, counterintuitively for some, to be taken seriously. Mary Shelley first published Frankenstein as Anonymous. There are many other reasons to stay anonymous. Why does a statement have any less worth if it does not have John Henry with it? What if at the top of this it states Louis Salinais says....
I may be a real person. You just might not know me. Now what if we put my age along with each statement? Would said statement be taken more seriously if say the person was 65 vs 25? There are many biases that can be brought in to the perception of simple words.
Does not anonymous leave the least amount of assumptions? All that is left are the words?
Tsunami and all the others. You talk about community but would endorse boycotting a local business ? What type of community would do that ? A small minded petty community. I would never boycott a local business because of their political views.
There was a hell of a lot more than 40 pissed off people at the last council mtg. Factor in at least 5-10 other pissed off people for each of the pssed off attendants at the meeting who couldn't or wouldn't show their faces. I'm quite sure, but after nearly 30 years in this town this past meeting is quite unprecidented. No people at the meeting where there anonymously. If council chooses to not recognize the number of residents in opposition to their latest decision, one can only assume that they just don't get it!
Okay, so 10% of RMI can be spent on operations which according to my sources, this year was spent mostly on public works cleaning up washrooms and maintaining RMI infrastructure at the demand of Tourism Tofino. The new Resort Services Department will be funded under the same RMI operations budget, which this blog says is around $650,000. So 10% of 650,000 is $65,000 which would pay a big part of the leader of this new department. That leaves the tax payers on the hook for the public works wages that were previously paid for by RMI. Then let's add in an increase in wages for the Manager of Community Sustainability, due to his significant increase in responsibility. Is daycare also in his purview? Add some more costs... There's no way one person can manage all of the RMI projects, so add in some more costs for extra staff there... When I add it up, it seems like eliminating the Parks and Rec Dept position actually adds to the costs, and at the same time, dilutes the service to the community... I am not in favour of this at all. Is there a budget for the fun police as well?
Dear 6:35 PM, So happy to hear your support for our troubled town, while at the same time offer sympathy for your loss. We as a small, close knit community do understand what loss really is.
Josie is busy organizing the affordable housing iniative that was disbanded several months ago.... Remember this when you vote in the upcoming by-election. This would only be a small piece of the foolishness you'll see local council boggled down in if she's ever elected.
Josie is very non commital even though I think she's a great person, there come's a time that she's going either going to have to stand up up or sit down.
I like the new Donald Trump style of management in Tofino. I'll bet not many employees will be asking for a raise or a Christmas bonus !! Well done council !! Start restructuring some of the other departments in the new year.
Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. Other reasons for restructuring include a change of ownership or ownership structure, demerger, or a response to a crisis or major change in the business such as bankruptcy, repositioning, or buyout. Restructuring may also be described as corporate restructuring, debt restructuring and financial restructuring.
Executives involved in restructuring often hire financial and legal advisors to assist in the transaction details and negotiation. It may also be done by a new CAO hired specifically to make the difficult and controversial decisions required to save or reposition the company.
I'm glad people never gave this much notice and ran to my defense when I was the victim of job restructuring. Having been through this in another town, and having had time to reflect now, maybe I wasn't doing my job to the letter, which can happen when one's been doing a job a long time. Sally is lucky her job was eliminated behind closed doors to protect her privacy, and as these things go, that was the legally responsible way to go about this. Regardless, rumours and assumptions are just flying now anyway, so due diligence or not, this whole thing is an embarrasment to this community.
I'm pretty sure most of the people commenting about the 10% isn't even aware of the scope of the RMI program, or the rules imposed by the province to spend these funds. (And let's not forget this is NOT taxpayer money for the commenter at 7:39 who thinks Tourism Tofino has any say in how it's spent.) Tofino is one of only a handful of towns in the province eligible to receive these funds, and we should be grateful. If the program gets yanked when the media picks this up or the premier gets the boot, you'll miss the money that has built the MUP, the bike park and paid for arts and cultural grants, among other things.
Good luck finding enough thick-skinned, self-loathing folks to fill these staff and council seats when this is the treatment they get. Maybe we should all support the community members that are sticking it out in their jobs through these tough staff and council transitions and let the new mayor elect and CAO have a couple weeks to assess the situation and make some decisions.
What I find incomprehensible is the manner in which Sally was dismissed ... unless there is something missing ... they broke each and every rule in the book without a moments consideration for the eventual outcome.
that no one bothered to consult with a lawyer is beyond belief
Anonymous 9:34said "Having been through this in another town, and having had time to reflect now, maybe I wasn't doing my job to the letter, which can happen when one's been doing a job a long time. Sally is lucky her job was eliminated behind closed doors to protect her privacy, and as these things go, that was the legally responsible way to go about this." I thought the elimination of Sally's job was a result of Organizational Alignment.You are suggesting something otherwise.You must have been at the in-camera meeting.Busted !
9.34 Yes, and didn't Sally complete the bike park, and the lighthouse trail, and the mup, and was working on the arts thing? And yes, we should be greatful for the extra funding for sure. Sally should be thankful for everything being kept secret about her firing? Oh no if I know her right, she would have a lot to say that would make sense about her firing. Privacy be damned!
The issue is using the "re-org" as an excuse and vehicle to eliminate Sally's job. Whether this was done to save money or "fire" Sally, such a huge re-org should never have been done without public consultation. A complete presentation could have been made to the public without any mention of removal of positions. This wasn't done so we are now left with this sorry mess, Sally without a job, Parks and Rec reduced to once, a stand alone entity, now to one buried in another department, and a council that promised public consultation and then denied the citizens this promise. This is called a lie.
Deserved to be fired? No. And what I failed to mention is I have had the pleasure of knowing and volunteering with Sally for nearly 10 years and she is great. All I meant was there are 2 sides to every story, and chirping at the outgoing scapegoats isn't really helping. I don't pretend to know any more than any other anonymous about this situation. I get that everyone wants answers. But it stinks that everyone's so wound up without all the details. I am not sure that even if all this info was open book though, that all the conspiracy theorists on here would be satisfied.
6:35..... big hugs. this seems to fit a pattern. if a person is fired does this mean they dont get a pension? if so, is this a budget savings? just asking. i dont know.
If the District of Ucluelet is smart (BTW I have always felt Ukee is run much better than our town) they will grab Sally on the spot! Whatever happens -and I still hope we will get Sally back here in Tofino- I wish her all the best and thank her from the bottom of my heart for all she has done for us!!!!
I post anonymously not for fear of council or the DoT but for fear of the community members on this blog that do nothing but personally attack. Really, you won't shop at my business because you don't agree with a decision I have made or an opinion I have......I mean if I were to boycott businesses for those business owners making a decision I disagree with or an opinion they have that I disagree with I likely wouldn't have anywhere in town to shop. I have made comments already, not attacking any individual posts or council yet was attacked by others on the blog. The beauty of being human beings is that we can make decisions and have opinions. We are not robots, I neither agree or disagree with council or the angry community members at the council meeting. What I will say is that I trust council did not just show up one day and decide to eliminate Sally's job, there had to have been some process involved in the decision. I trust that the decision was discussed it at some point prior to the press release and decided that it was the best option based on the information they had. The community members that showed up, while I appreciate their passion and love for Sally don't represent the entire community. There are more people out here that are indifferent, don't care or maybe even think it was a fine decision. I like Sally as a person and don't doubt that she has been involved in the community through her role within the DoT but sometimes cuts get made and these decisions aren't made for personal reasons. I am sure the job was eliminated as a cost saving measure and not because council didn't like Sally. People just need to stop assuming. Rumours and gossip will be the death of this town.
Rumours? Gossip? What rumours and gossip? Residents OF this town want to know what's going on IN our town! OUR town. OURS OURS OURS. OUR TOWN. WE elect you to serve AT OUR PLEASURE. THAT is the name of the game for an ELECTED official. WE elect you. WE EXPECT answers - not spin nor lies nor b.s. - but we're not getting answers are we?
So, you can't have it both ways - you can't have an ENGAGED electorate, people passionately involved in all facets of this town and then expect us to stand IDLY and SILENTLY by while piss poor decisions CONTINUE to be made that hurt OUR TOWN.
How many building permits have we given out? yep, none. How many grants have we missed out on? yep, lots. How obscene is our water system? Our sewer hookups with Esowista? How many lawsuits have been paid out with our taxes?
"Rumors and gossip will be the death of this town"..........
The problem is that when there's no facts presented, no accountability, no explanations, no transparency, no open discourse with the public, a veil of secrecy, an attitude of "It's too complex for you to understand", and a cloak of vague terms and complicated terminology........ then gossip and rumor is all you've got left. R.I.P. Tofino.
10:42, the mayor stood before us at the meeting the other night and very clearly said Sally,s dismissal was not about money and it was not about her performance. What was it about then. Restructuring? What is the restructuring? Why aren't we told? Why did they eliminate her and her department when her and her department gave so many people so much? There's a very good reason so many people are pissed off. I really don't think they thought their decision would spark this sort of anger. They might have known if they CONSULTED WITH THE PUBLIC before making such a poor decision! How can they stand before us and say it's for the best without backing that up?
this is a personal attack on the anonymous who pretend they believe authority is infallible and should be obeyed no matter what. ditto on the anonymous who say they believe that council has way more info to make decisions about matters than us stupid whining crybaby begonias. and a pox on the anonymous who would have us all reverting to a feudal state. we'll find you anonymous........... and to the anonymous who think this is funny, some of it is. fantastic. hurting people isnt. a council who is unmindful of the consequences of acting boorishly and unkindly towards a senior employee should seek counselling. or listen.
Dear 9:34(Garth, is that you?),the link below pretty much sums up the details of RMI funding. It is quite clear that only 10% of RMI funds can be used for operations and maintenance. I think that what the poster at 7:39 was trying to say is that if the District plans to use that 10% to fund the management of the Resort services Department, then the 10% currently being used by Public Works to clean washrooms, maintain parks and trails etc. would no longer be available for that use. Therefore one can only assume that the money used for those tasks would come from us, the taxpayers. I would also like to think that part of Sally's salary has been paid for with RMI funding as well,since she has managed several RMI projects.
the resort municipality initiative guidelines does not identify the residents in the suggested list of stakeholders. is this an omission or the new vision of tofino?
Its nice that Ralph brought the blog back so we can voice our opinions/concerns/complaints, but what we really need are options. What can we actually DO in our current situation? I mean real, viable, legal options.
I believe the District is holding a town hall meeting in January. Everyone should attend this meeting. Go to the next council meeting again at 5:30 and keep asking the questions until they tell us.
125 comments:
Thank Goodness!
Open it up for inspection.
Sunlight disinfects....
You sure like making assumptions Ralph. Guilty until provent innocent. And now you're going to rub this towns face in it without all the info. Sometimes information is privy to a select few for a reason, if decisions were to be made always with the input and involvement of the public then there would be no progress, sometimes change hurts. All I ask is that you are carfull not to diss respect the community as a whole.
and sometimes there is a shituation that is pure filth but one cannot name names. the current council doesnt have a clue why they did this. unless they can explain in plain english something about it that we can all understand and accept. ill be the first to eat my hard hat if the truth is outed eventually and proves were just a bunch of ill-informed weenies.
2:18, I'm not sure which councilor you are but I truly believe that Ralph has no intention of disrespecting this community. He may however disrespect this council and mayor and CAO. Only because THEY disrespected this community with their poorly executed and thought out DISRESPECTED "plan".
GO RALPH GO!!.....
Dear 2:18, "a select few"? In these times I would say there is nothing "select" about this admin and council.
2:18 you must have been one of the many members of the "community as a whole" who were at the council meeting to show their support for the restructuring.
I'm not making any assumptions,I'd just like some answers.Thank you for your input.
Keep you eye on the donut and not on the whole
I think we need to see why these things are happening and most importantly, we need to be open. As a group we don't know all the facts but we can hold them accountable!
The current council is on its last legs and voters should take a moment to write in their calendar who not to vote for in the next election.
This is about eliminating senior staff and replacing them with lower paid workers in "new" positions that will qualify for RMI funding.
Let's hope they don't do the same thing with Public Works.Sure it saves money but the service will suffer.
I went to the meeting the other night thinking it was going to feel like a funeral for Sally and parks & rec. I left the meeting thinking it was actualy a funeral for council. RIP, your term is officaly dead.
Hey 3:35, Correct me if I'm wrong but was Sally not already working with rmi funds on the Lighthouse trail, the new (and awsome!) bike park not to mention a new trail contract that has just begun??? What the hell do we need a "resort services dept." for? Just asking.
This seems to be the concensus and the first to go was a staff member who had constant problems with a previous mayor and one council member.Probably just a coincidence but that's an assumption.
Parks and Rec were working with RMI funds but their wages were paid from general taxation.While it was said at the question and answer period that this wasn't about cutting costs I have to question that.
I'm curious to see if the new jobs funded with RMI money will be union or management or contract workers.
1218 here. I am not a councilor. I am a taxpayer and am therefore entitled to my opinion. Without information I am also left with making assumptions and, sadly I do agree that there is a lack of transparency in the political system. I was not at the meeting and am disappointed the community was not given answers however, I would like to assume our council are not idiots and have instead walked into a shit storm
hey i dont unnerstan how eliminating a dedicated and well respected long term employee in order to hire new cheaper people is part of the RMI funding mandate. if it is let us know in black and white.
and if the frenzy to grab this RMI money creates this type of thinking and actions in contravention of the welfare of the spirit of the community this deal needs to be re-thunk.
im confused that the alleged corporate re-structuring was done with this RMI money in mind or is this a clumsy excuse for something else? just drink the kool-aid dammit!
2:18 the select few maybe are going to, by corporate re-structuring, de-certify tofino(de-unionize it)by converting it to the glorious city state of a resort municiplity. is this why its secret? cod, i hope so.
if not this is the end of credibility period.
headlines read: tofino is the end of the world!
4:23 they didn't walk in to a shit storm they built one. Just wondering, does that qualify for RMI funding?
The current RMI formula for funding is:
70 % for tourism related projects
20% for festivals and tourism related events
10 % for operational expenses (wages)
There is no need for structural changes to government to be discussed in-camera .
The employment repercussions of structural changes should be discussed in-camera.
A large portion of this so called re-organization could have been done with public input .
The amount of the RMI money ( the 10 % operational )used for the new position will be lost to where it is being applied now so will there really be a savings to the taxpayer ? If council had maintained the commitment to transparency we wouldn't be in this deplorable situation. The RMI funding should be a blessing and not a curse.
Sally liaised with the Coldwater Classic before Tofino lost it...
Sally built the Lighthouse Trail...
did the Multi Use Paths...
is everywhere at festivals...
this is simply reDONKulous!
And Council being handed a shit storm? It wasn't left to them by the past Council - it was of their own making.
At times like this I'm reminded of the Dante quote:
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality”
Ralph at 5:17 they definatly are not open and transparent- they are closed and obscure.
Council, get your Helly Hanson's out. The shit storm is about to hit the proverbial fan!
Today's weather forcast: hotter than Hell in Hell with a strong chance of a shit storm!
in the navy theres the official version of whats going on which everyone knows is bullshit and then theres what is called scuttlebutt which is what really is going on, like where the ship is heading and what are they going to do there.
here the bullshit is all over the place. it takes this blog, lawyers, mass confusion, diligence, and the publics unrelenting curiosity to figure out the scuttlebutt which isnt pretty.
theres some abuse of process, chicanery, lack of transparency, stubbornness, bad/insufficient/no information, bad math, and a few other management requisites at work on the elected employees parts.
any number of transgressions to the absolute obeyance of authority on our blogee parts. and a big mess.
if this is the way restructuring happens lets just re-think it and wait until it can be a community involved process like the OCP.
like whats the hurry? why now?
Something just does not seem right about "information is privy to a select few for a reason."
I would think that journalism in the past was striving towards being a check and balance on the other political pillars of our societal governance. It may be a distant memory due to the "corporate" restructuring of the journalistic practice to a peddler of advertising influenced (nay muzzled) by multi-millionaire owners with their own agendas.
In comes technology with its unexpected consequences for better or for worse. The internet fascillitates micro journalism due to its low entry fee.
There is something to be said about a strong monetary backing to the classic investigative journalism of old. It matters how devoted "the money" was to the manipulation or the truth. Debate on objectivity is a whole other thing. That is the struggle of current citizens' journalism. The high standard is diluted by the low barrier of entry hence almost everyone with internet access piping in.
However, every once in a while, it also creates a brilliant, unexpected format of communication that feels very timely. Anonymous or not, a debate occurs. A whole spectrum of people from serious, angry, livid, to ignorant, amused, witty, geniue, to obviously trying to piss people off whether they believe in their own words or not, and all that.
Small brother is watching.
is a political liar an oxymoron?
thank you junior senior
around here when theres a wreck the ambulance is usually called.
in the political sense we need a repair service.
names are called but it doesnt do any good.
this political wreck needs to be fixed.
any helpful hints how to go about restoring some good here?
The first thing to do is to ensure that everyone recognizes that there has been a wreck.Then the repairs can be started.
hey, i know...lets have a contest.
no, seriously, lets have a public performance review each year for the councillors. afterall they are paid to perform right?
this is justice right?
if this a de facto performance review of the current councils handling of a few things, well---you know.
3:47
constant problems with the previous mayor is a good place to start wondering where this all came from.
thank ford this isnt a dating service
i just looked up outside to see where the meteor shower was.
saw one meteor.
either my eyes have done something funny or the stars have recently lit up in technicolor like discoteks.
they used to be plain white except for mars.
or am i seeing truth for the first time.
whats this got to do with politics.
not much.
This whole mess is because one councillor didn't like the budget of Parks and Rec. He stated so during the All Candidates meeting. He created this mess.
I keep looking back at the original post on Dec. 2. (district press release) and can't believe the wording and structure of it. Do the people that seem to think they are in charge really think that they can baffle people with terms like "organizational alignment with the corporate stratigic plan". It talks about "budget alignment". And yet according to Mr. Steven's report from the recent budget meeting that he attended the district clearly didn't have their budget "aligned". The number of citizens that were at the council meeting on Tuesday were clearly indicitive, in my opinion, as to the opinion of Tofitians regarding Tofino council's latest decicion to terminate the Parks and Rec director and disband the entire department. To stand before a community that elected them to represent them, council clearly did not have a very clear "stratigic plan" as they did not have any answers to back up their decision. I'm quite sure that the people of Tofino will not back down and forget.
i really like how people hide behind anonymous,he usually had great words of wisdom. Change there with out answers hurt so much most of the real people whom were there for the real progress had enough of the BS,and have moved out of the illusion
Keep on Keepin On Ralph :)
good interview
Mr. Tieleman,
I thought your interview was great and you did not disrespect our community in any way.
Hope someone lets council know that you did on CBC today what they should be doing .... communicating.
All we want is a clear concise idea of what they are doing. We don't want gobbledygook. I am sure we are able to look at a plan and decide if it's a good plan or not. So far there is no actual evidence of a plan.
Ralph, Hope you're able to post your interview I missed it.
Didn't think you could go that long without swearing !
yes George, we do want information and we also wantSally and her department back. It was a true Tofino institution. Acornerstone of the community.
First time reading your blog Ralph. Amazed at all the people that hide behind anonymous. Dec. 13, 2012 2:18 made a simple oposition comment with some worry. Well written, maybe not a popular opinion, but overall nothing wrong with it. No one was attacked, no hateful words strewn about... Anonymous? Really? Half the reason council and others get up in arms about Ralph's blog is because people sling thier slander then hide behind anonymous. It is also the reason that council doesn't take this site seriosly, they have not been voted in or out by anonymous, they were voted in by people with names and identities.
So in this I say, 'include your name, state an opinion, voice some emotion. Watch how you say it maybe if you are concerned how others might view your opinions. But own what you are saying. Others will listen more if they know it is a person writing to them. And as Ralph mentioned get involved, show up, write a letter.
Cory Windover
Also as I read on...
The council has to follow a structure. There will be a hire and fire process. As I sit here in my ignorance of what this process may or may not be I will say that the position being terminated was a union position. And therefore to terminate it would not be an easy job. Or at least it would be an easy paper trail to follow other than privacy issues. But privacy is usually in place to protect the employee not the business so much.
Just had to voice my curious ignorance. So if I am wrong in this assumption please correct me.
The position that was eliminated was management, not union.Many people post anonymously because they fear retribution from the District.
No one that was at the meeting was anonymous
Hey Cory
You have a great point about anonymity. However, when council chooses to discuss things in-camera that do not legally have to be, they are in effect hiding behind a veil of anonymity and achieve zero personal accountability.
It's too bad that the community charter affords them their anonymity.
This HAS to end.
Not much difference really between them and the bloggers.
i can asure cory that theres thought afoot to have maybe a online system to register non nonymous comments on issues with council before they vote on some things excluding in-camera. its about time.
the current mess is exactly why anybody who may do anything in the future chooses to remain anonymous:
there is the distinct possibility that terminating sally was retribution for exercising her right to disagree with elements of council & mayor.
crafting the baloney of this corporate re-structuring with the result of eliminating 1 person, sally, looks like it was the only purpose considering nobody remembers a policy adopted to undertake this; its not a direction of the OCP; there wasnt notice or public input; it doesnt LOOK like it reflects any support for "community sustainability",
in fact the opposite if anybody would have taken the time to think about it or get input from the public at an open house or town hall meeting.
furthermore the projected budget savings may be spurious considering the unintended consequences of this unpopular of an type of action.
for example: bullheaded adherence by DOT refusing to compromise or ameliorate the yew wood lawsuit.
which DOT lost. oops
for example; same thing with rosie bay estates lawsuit. it appears this is a losing position also.
2 examples of the probable results of the concept of what seems like wilful refusal to understand that stubbornness is very costly to the tax payer.
we still see the results of retribution of the yew wood business in DOT not using the services of a local firm involved.
lots of money wasted.
i digress of course.
(this is freedom of speech cory. the opposite of blind obedience to authority, religion, or dogma)
neither of the foregoing expense items were part of a budget process, vision, or common sense or policy procedure.
neither was the current sewer mess with esowista.
by the way, anonymous is an internet identity for........
excellent point george!
Who has thrown in their names for the mayors race? I haven't but I will vote. My full time career has me out of town way to much to take on the responsibility. How many here on the blog are willing to run 0,1,2? Its easy to back seat drive. I agree things are a mess. But we all have to be willing to help change things not just sit in the peanut gallery and continue to point out the obvious short comings. Its sad Ralph isn't running because like him or not he does care about Tofino and its well being. You have to admit he would be a good strong mayor or councillor.
My .02, back to lurking in the shawdows.
Happy holidays to all..
1124, this thought afoot sounds good! There needs to be a medium where by public has input on decisions like this, even if we don't have all the info. Sometimes perspective is important and operating without public input, especially in a small town like think, can be very harmful. I hope Sally's position was not removed because of a grudge and further more a lack of motivation on councils behalf to press with clear explanations of why. If the community is to give council feedback then it cannot be from anonymous sources and yes, I would gladly give input.
every election ive voted didnt require my name or number on the ballot.
anonymous.
Hey Shadow
One candidate that I know about for sure, I turned in my nomination papers on Thursday so I'm in!
George
Cory. It has been said before but it is worth saying again.
1. If you do not like the blog then don't read it or start your own.
2. We voted anonymously for our council and Mayor.....you know when you went behind the curtain to cast your vote and did not have to identify yourself on your ballot ?! There is a reason for the process being this way...
3. Ignore the posts that seem to you to be offensive for whatever reason. You are not the comment police and if they truly libel then the person affected will have recourse in the courts.
4. It is not important that Council does not take this blog seriously. With that said, Council has taken direct action from revelations on this blog on more than enough occasions. Just ask Bob Long. Not as quickly as Councillors in Yellowknife, who must have been some free thinkers, who realized he was not the guy to have as a CAO.
Thank you Ralph for pointing out management vs union position.. here here George good point as well about council hiding behind the same thing. And to anonymous with the point of freedom of speech... really? Freedom of speech is the right to voice your opinion without retribution or fear of retribution and if council (or others) were to take up against someone for something they said... that would be an attack against your rights. So yes it might be something that goes on (hopefully not here) but to make it okay by hiding behind anonymity is what kills freedom of speech.
Am quite confused at your comment about freedom of speech and therefore I guess freedom being the opposite of blind obedience to authority, religion or dogma. Because that is what freedom is... to be able to follow authority, religion or dogma... or not as your own beliefs dictate. And to public forum to oppose such things as well and not be prosecuted. I understand it always doesn't work as we like it but that is the point, stand up and own your beliefs.
Thanks Ralph for the space to rant and rave as we will. I have so much more to comment but this isn't my blog so I leave the space for others.
Cory do you live in a small town? With the previous council if you spoke out the bylaw officer paid you a visit and your name would be removed from committees. Some of us speak out with our names and some of us do not because we may have more to loose.
Sorry I can't post that comment . I think you could be right.
Thanks for the heads up Ralph. Good call.
cory. i have no idea who you are in person. you are anonymous to me. you could be gustaf dore. creative license on a blog annoys you if you have the idea that freedom is obeying authority. its ok to let go of fixed ideas here.
ok. do no harm. awake!
and yes some postive changes seem to have occurred in waterworks due to this blogs input and output coverage and factual revelations by anonymous et al.
anonymous is one person. we are all one. the government is us. the government is cory.
Interesting that people post anonymously for fear of reprisal from DOT, yet will identify a councillor who's business has nothing to do with his non decisions while on council, and yet will threaten to boycott his business?
We have no other course of action to take. If he won't listen to our voices perhaps he will listen to a lack of business.
4:28, There's more than one business to boycott in this town!
Dear 5:06, When we hear of Sally, and Parks and Rec's demise as a unanamous vote from council I wouldn't call it "his non decisions".
5:19, exactly and tell your friends!
It seems quite obvious that if these business operators arn't willing to support what our community wants and believes strongly in then our community certainly won't support them. That's fair.
On another thread there was a comment along the lines of "getting rid of this bunch for a new council". Who, who in there right mind would run knowing that if they make a decision that people don't agree with, that people are going to boycott their business. Or threaten their job. Good luck finding anyone to run.
Who in their right mind would run and not listen to the people ?
Forty angry loud people does not represent the community. It only represents 40 loud people, not the silent majority.
I'm not threatening to boycott his business.
I'm promising to!
Hey Ralph, sorry I missed your interview this morning. Any chance you could post a link to the webcast if there is one?
Will do.
If the silent majority supports beaches then there is nothing to worry about. It's only 40 ppl after all.
So no problems. or is it only 40?
I think it is great to see Ralph's blog up!
Is there a connection between Sally's departure and the organization positions Braden created.
More specifically, I would like to know how the new positions and titles effect remuneration. It seems like the new job titles came with new salaries. To be honest can we afford these salaries?
My idea would be to create groups of people to support staff... When there are problems create mediation group of prominent local people who care about Tofino. Basically, anything to lower our costs.
I listened with interest to this morning's interview, and grateful for the link to your blog. It was as if you were speaking about me and the horrible situation in my Town.
I wonder if I can find the guts to actually post this; if you are reading now, then I guess I've taken the plunge and the devil take the hindmost...
I too was ' terminated without just cause' recently. Initially it was disguised as 'restructuring'. However, since no settlement or even notice was in the offering, I was left with no choice but to seek legal council. Because of the ongoing lawsuit, I am posting this anonymously (sorry Cory).
I had been employed by a small Town municipality in a similar management position for 22 plus years. Then, without warning, I was told my position was ended. I had had a good career I was proud of, with no complaints or letters from public or Council. When let go, I was told it was a unanimous Council decision, but no real details of why, other than something about restructuring and saving money. The CAO hinted there was more(?) Then an assistant manager in my department was immediately hired to fill my position at almost half the pay with reduced hours. The title is different, but the job is basically the same. There was no press release or chance for public input. I have been heartbroken and confused ever since.
This development in Tofino leaves me wondering where the blueprint for getting rid of long term municipal employees came from? I have lately begun to hear rumours of the Town deciding it was time to ' take back the power'. Is this what happens when Council sees a manager, usually long term and mostly unsupervised doing a job almost too well? Are they assuming we are arrogant and further, perceived as acting unaccountably?
I hope your Town folk will find a way through the murk and help people like Sally and myself get our lives back. At the very least, it would be great if we thought our Town leaders and community actually recognized and valued the hard work we did for all those years. Even with the support of many individuals here that are also outraged at what has happened to me, it's been so hard to keep living in a Town that feels like its betrayed me.
Thanks for keeping up the fight; your blog gives me hope that people do care and that there may yet be justice..
74 posts!!!!!! This must be a record! This is great. Better than tv.
Voting is done anonymously.
Many a brilliant author, journalist, activist, etc. went by a pen name throughout literary history. It is nothing new. This is but one narrow example but the Bronte sisters published under male pen names, counterintuitively for some, to be taken seriously. Mary Shelley first published Frankenstein as Anonymous. There are many other reasons to stay anonymous. Why does a statement have any less worth if it does not have John Henry with it? What if at the top of this it states Louis Salinais says....
I may be a real person. You just might not know me. Now what if we put my age along with each statement? Would said statement be taken more seriously if say the person was 65 vs 25? There are many biases that can be brought in to the perception of simple words.
Does not anonymous leave the least amount of assumptions? All that is left are the words?
Tsunami and all the others. You talk about community but would endorse boycotting a local business ?
What type of community would do that ? A small minded petty community. I would never boycott a local business because of their political views.
There was a hell of a lot more than 40 pissed off people at the last council mtg. Factor in at least 5-10 other pissed off people for each of the pssed off attendants at the meeting who couldn't or wouldn't show their faces. I'm quite sure, but after nearly 30 years in this town this past meeting is quite unprecidented. No people at the meeting where there anonymously. If council chooses to not recognize the number of residents in opposition to their latest decision, one can only assume that they just don't get it!
Okay, so 10% of RMI can be spent on operations which according to my sources, this year was spent mostly on public works cleaning up washrooms and maintaining RMI infrastructure at the demand of Tourism Tofino. The new Resort Services Department will be funded under the same RMI operations budget, which this blog says is around $650,000. So 10% of 650,000 is $65,000 which would pay a big part of the leader of this new department. That leaves the tax payers on the hook for the public works wages that were previously paid for by RMI. Then let's add in an increase in wages for the Manager of Community Sustainability, due to his significant increase in responsibility. Is daycare also in his purview? Add some more costs... There's no way one person can manage all of the RMI projects, so add in some more costs for extra staff there... When I add it up, it seems like eliminating the Parks and Rec Dept position actually adds to the costs, and at the same time, dilutes the service to the community... I am not in favour of this at all. Is there a budget for the fun police as well?
anyone have any idea what mayoral candidate josie osborne feels about this mess? or is she happy with the staus quo?
She addresses the issue on her Facebook site.She was quiet at the meeting
Dear 6:35 PM, So happy to hear your support for our troubled town, while at the same time offer sympathy for your loss. We as a small, close knit community do understand what loss really is.
Josie is busy organizing the affordable housing iniative that was disbanded several months ago....
Remember this when you vote in the upcoming by-election. This would only be a small piece of the foolishness you'll see local council boggled down in if she's ever elected.
This whole mess started when someone was hired to manage the Affordable Housing Project.
Josie is very non commital even though I think she's a great person, there come's a time that she's going either going to have to stand up up or sit down.
I like the new Donald Trump style of management in Tofino. I'll bet not many employees will be asking for a raise or a Christmas bonus !! Well done council !! Start restructuring some of the other departments in the new year.
Tofino is once again the laughing stock of BC . Our mayor has left us for Cactus Club !! The CAO has left for Winnipeg !!!
As per usual the residents watch the transients leave. Josie for mayor!
7:10 P.M.
Tsunamis are not supposed to be "nice".
The council does not understand nice. To them, nice means laying down and becoming subservient.
I am so done with the back room BS.
Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. Other reasons for restructuring include a change of ownership or ownership structure, demerger, or a response to a crisis or major change in the business such as bankruptcy, repositioning, or buyout. Restructuring may also be described as corporate restructuring, debt restructuring and financial restructuring.
Executives involved in restructuring often hire financial and legal advisors to assist in the transaction details and negotiation. It may also be done by a new CAO hired specifically to make the difficult and controversial decisions required to save or reposition the company.
This blog sucks.I'm going to boycott it until Bob Long comes back.
Very sad when a loyal employee gets bullied for years and then axed by a callous council.Shame on them.
I'm glad people never gave this much notice and ran to my defense when I was the victim of job restructuring. Having been through this in another town, and having had time to reflect now, maybe I wasn't doing my job to the letter, which can happen when one's been doing a job a long time. Sally is lucky her job was eliminated behind closed doors to protect her privacy, and as these things go, that was the legally responsible way to go about this. Regardless, rumours and assumptions are just flying now anyway, so due diligence or not, this whole thing is an embarrasment to this community.
I'm pretty sure most of the people commenting about the 10% isn't even aware of the scope of the RMI program, or the rules imposed by the province to spend these funds. (And let's not forget this is NOT taxpayer money for the commenter at 7:39 who thinks Tourism Tofino has any say in how it's spent.) Tofino is one of only a handful of towns in the province eligible to receive these funds, and we should be grateful. If the program gets yanked when the media picks this up or the premier gets the boot, you'll miss the money that has built the MUP, the bike park and paid for arts and cultural grants, among other things.
Good luck finding enough thick-skinned, self-loathing folks to fill these staff and council seats when this is the treatment they get. Maybe we should all support the community members that are sticking it out in their jobs through these tough staff and council transitions and let the new mayor elect and CAO have a couple weeks to assess the situation and make some decisions.
Happy holidays!
What I find incomprehensible is the manner in which Sally was dismissed ... unless there is something missing ... they broke each and every rule in the book without a moments consideration for the eventual outcome.
that no one bothered to consult with a lawyer is beyond belief
Anonymous 9:34said "Having been through this in another town, and having had time to reflect now, maybe I wasn't doing my job to the letter, which can happen when one's been doing a job a long time. Sally is lucky her job was eliminated behind closed doors to protect her privacy, and as these things go, that was the legally responsible way to go about this."
I thought the elimination of Sally's job was a result of Organizational Alignment.You are suggesting something otherwise.You must have been at the in-camera meeting.Busted !
9.34
Yes, and didn't Sally complete the bike park, and the lighthouse trail, and the mup, and was working on the arts thing? And yes, we should be greatful for the extra funding for sure. Sally should be thankful for everything being kept secret about her firing? Oh no if I know her right, she would have a lot to say that would make sense about her firing. Privacy be damned!
Nobody ran to your defence because you, unlike Ms. Mole, deserved to be fired.
The issue is using the "re-org" as an excuse and vehicle to eliminate Sally's job. Whether this was done to save money or "fire" Sally, such a huge re-org should never have been done without public consultation. A complete presentation could have been made to the public without any mention of removal of positions. This wasn't done so we are now left with this sorry mess, Sally without a job, Parks and Rec reduced to once, a stand alone entity, now to one buried in another department, and a council that promised public consultation and then denied the citizens this promise. This is called a lie.
Deserved to be fired? No. And what I failed to mention is I have had the pleasure of knowing and volunteering with Sally for nearly 10 years and she is great. All I meant was there are 2 sides to every story, and chirping at the outgoing scapegoats isn't really helping. I don't pretend to know any more than any other anonymous about this situation. I get that everyone wants answers. But it stinks that everyone's so wound up without all the details. I am not sure that even if all this info was open book though, that all the conspiracy theorists on here would be satisfied.
Don't attach the guy... he's only saying that it's nice to see folks defend someone who was treated shamefully - in this case, Sally Mole.
Violence people. Violence. We gotta cut it out.
I am boycotting the blog until the re-birth of Johonna!
6:35..... big hugs.
this seems to fit a pattern.
if a person is fired does this mean they dont get a pension?
if so, is this a budget savings?
just asking. i dont know.
the second coming is the second after this one.
rust in peace
9:34 p.m. Garth...is that you? I thought Sally wasn't fired. It was just her position that was eliminated.
Huh!
http://www.nnsl.com/frames/newspapers/2010-07/jul30_10bc.html
"chirping"?????
"outgoing scapegoats"????
"it stinks that everyone's so wound up without all the details."?????
" I am not sure that even if all this info was open book" ????
Councillor...you have drunk the kool-aid and you are oblivious to the fact.
You insult us by trivializing the matter.
If the District of Ucluelet is smart (BTW I have always felt Ukee is run much better than our town) they will grab Sally on the spot!
Whatever happens -and I still hope we will get Sally back here in Tofino- I wish her all the best and thank her from the bottom of my heart for all she has done for us!!!!
I post anonymously not for fear of council or the DoT but for fear of the community members on this blog that do nothing but personally attack. Really, you won't shop at my business because you don't agree with a decision I have made or an opinion I have......I mean if I were to boycott businesses for those business owners making a decision I disagree with or an opinion they have that I disagree with I likely wouldn't have anywhere in town to shop. I have made comments already, not attacking any individual posts or council yet was attacked by others on the blog. The beauty of being human beings is that we can make decisions and have opinions. We are not robots, I neither agree or disagree with council or the angry community members at the council meeting. What I will say is that I trust council did not just show up one day and decide to eliminate Sally's job, there had to have been some process involved in the decision. I trust that the decision was discussed it at some point prior to the press release and decided that it was the best option based on the information they had. The community members that showed up, while I appreciate their passion and love for Sally don't represent the entire community. There are more people out here that are indifferent, don't care or maybe even think it was a fine decision. I like Sally as a person and don't doubt that she has been involved in the community through her role within the DoT but sometimes cuts get made and these decisions aren't made for personal reasons. I am sure the job was eliminated as a cost saving measure and not because council didn't like Sally. People just need to stop assuming. Rumours and gossip will be the death of this town.
Wow! Lots of angry people. Maybe council should call a last minute secret meeting to solve this!!
Rumours? Gossip? What rumours and gossip? Residents OF this town want to know what's going on IN our town! OUR town. OURS OURS OURS. OUR TOWN. WE elect you to serve AT OUR PLEASURE. THAT is the name of the game for an ELECTED official. WE elect you. WE EXPECT answers - not spin nor lies nor b.s. - but we're not getting answers are we?
So, you can't have it both ways - you can't have an ENGAGED electorate, people passionately involved in all facets of this town and then expect us to stand IDLY and SILENTLY by while piss poor decisions CONTINUE to be made that hurt OUR TOWN.
How many building permits have we given out? yep, none. How many grants have we missed out on? yep, lots. How obscene is our water system? Our sewer hookups with Esowista? How many lawsuits have been paid out with our taxes?
You want our trust? Answer our questions.
but that is not how I heard it in the line up at the co-op! If its spoken in the co-op or printed on Ralphs blog it must be the gospel.
"Rumors and gossip will be the death of this town"..........
The problem is that when there's no facts presented, no accountability, no explanations, no transparency, no open discourse with the public, a veil of secrecy, an attitude of "It's too complex for you to understand", and a cloak of vague terms and complicated terminology........ then gossip and rumor is all you've got left.
R.I.P. Tofino.
10:42, the mayor stood before us at the meeting the other night and very clearly said Sally,s dismissal was not about money and it was not about her performance. What was it about then. Restructuring? What is the restructuring? Why aren't we told? Why did they eliminate her and her department when her and her department gave so many people so much? There's a very good reason so many people are pissed off. I really don't think they thought their decision would spark this sort of anger. They might have known if they CONSULTED WITH THE PUBLIC before making such a poor decision! How can they stand before us and say it's for the best without backing that up?
this is a personal attack on the anonymous who pretend they believe authority is infallible and should be obeyed no matter what.
ditto on the anonymous who say they believe that council has way more info to make decisions about matters than us stupid whining crybaby begonias.
and a pox on the anonymous who would have us all reverting to a feudal state.
we'll find you anonymous...........
and to the anonymous who think this is funny, some of it is. fantastic.
hurting people isnt.
a council who is unmindful of the consequences of acting boorishly and unkindly towards a senior employee should seek counselling. or listen.
Just simply cannot beleive the direction this council has taken!!!
Dear 9:34(Garth, is that you?),the link below pretty much sums up the details of RMI funding. It is quite clear that only 10% of RMI funds can be used for operations and maintenance. I think that what the poster at 7:39 was trying to say is that if the District plans to use that 10% to fund the management of the Resort services Department, then the 10% currently being used by Public Works to clean washrooms, maintain parks and trails etc. would no longer be available for that use. Therefore one can only assume that the money used for those tasks would come from us, the taxpayers. I would also like to think that part of Sally's salary has been paid for with RMI funding as well,since she has managed several RMI projects.
http://www.ruralbc.gov.bc.ca/library/RMI/2011%2008%2030%20RMI%20-%20Resort%20Development%20Strategy%20Guide.pdf
In defence of Tofino council, it should be noted that they don't do everything wrong. For example, they accepted Braden Smith's resignation.
6:49 I give them credit for that.
Resign ????
More like onto the next stepping stone.
the resort municipality initiative guidelines does not identify the residents in the suggested list of stakeholders.
is this an omission or the new vision of tofino?
Its nice that Ralph brought the blog back so we can voice our opinions/concerns/complaints, but what we really need are options. What can we actually DO in our current situation? I mean real, viable, legal options.
Andrew, the only option I see at this time is to continue to lobby council and demand answers and ACTION!
I believe the District is holding a town hall meeting in January. Everyone should attend this meeting. Go to the next council meeting again at 5:30 and keep asking the questions until they tell us.
Maybe by the next meeting the ball will be in their court?
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