Thanks to all who showed up tonight. The Council Chambers were standing room only, the hall was full and there were people outside.....
A full council was present including Mayor Schmunk.
report in point form
- I asked if anyone on council had spoken to Sally Mole about this issue-all councilors said no-Mayor Schmunk said he had spoken to Sally
-Brian Steven asked why Council can't explain the Reorganization and wondered why only 2 of 7 on council replied to his emails
-Liz Zed asked what they were thinking and where was the accountability
-Marnie Helliwell asked if there were any problems with Sally's job performance
-Mayor Schmunk said there were no problems
-Marnie Helliwell asked how Resort Services will relate to the existing Parks and Rec
-no answer
-John Forde thanked council and asked why is this being done now as Smith and Schmunk are leaving
-Mayor Schmunk replied that he and the CAO had little to do with it and that it was a council decision.It was nothing personal
-George Smith asked if they thought they were representing the people of Tofino and noted there didn't seem to be much support for council's decision in the crowd
-Mayor Schmunk said that "this isn't over....the ball is in Sally's court...she has been offered options "
-Ralph Tieleman asked for an elaboration on that statement
-Mayor Schmunk said as it is an employee matter it has to remain in-camera
-this was a theme that was repeated over and over....we can't talk about it
-Peggy Jamieson questioned the corporate language that is being used by council said that secrecy and corporate structure was detrimental to local government
-Jessie Blake spoke eloquently and asked council why they would get rid of senior staff
-Mayor Schmunk repeated that he can't talk about it
- Dorothy Baert stated that the reorganization would provide a "robust" parks and rec but was unable to explain the initiative.....mentioned jobs yet to be determined
- Jessica Taylor stated that this doesn't make sense and asked for an explanation
- Ralph Tieleman asked why if there is RMI money are we letting senior staff go...said there didn't seem to be a problem prior to the windfall of RMI money
-Mayor Schmunk said they needed to create a position for someone to direct the spending of the RMI money
-Brian Steven asked for an explanation
-Mayor Schunk said he couldn't discuss it but that Sally's dismissal was not performance related whatsover
-Dorothy Baert and Mayor Schmunk were the only people on council to speak during the open question period
-No one in the over-capacity crowd spoke in favour of council's decision
-sorry if I missed anyone but my shorthand is terrible
I was happy to see a large crowd show up as council tends to dismiss the blog readership as a few anonymous whiners.There was nobody anonymous tonight. There were many citizens that aren't blog readers there......People are pissed off !!
All in all it seems that council doesn't have a clear grasp of what the reorganization is and if they do they are unwilling or unable to explain it to their constituents.Let's hope this decision can be reviewed and reversed.....Please contact the Mayor and councillors to let them know how you feel.They are here to represent you.....Thank you to Mayor and Council and all in attendance for remaining civil while discussing an emotional issue.
33 comments:
excellent account of this debacle ralph.
so, sorry, but if the mayor and cao didnt have anything to do with it, how did it get on an agenda?
normally the cao writes the agenda and the mayor approves it thursday before the next weeks council meeting. duh
the mayor didnt vote? of course not. he would only vote to break a tie. there was no tie vote. so he had nothing to do with it? right? right?
the cao just watched. sure.
and who are the bullies here? its a secret. right?
so far so good. no one one council knows anything about parks and rec.
this is why their answers, if any, are so eloquent in their understanding of what happens to parks and rec when they dismiss its director.
pure genius to hire a new person to figure out how to spend RMI money.
how do we spend the RMI money? first spend taxpayer dollars to hire a new person and get rid of an old person and their job too. makes perfect sense.
heck, the RMI money is so important to the children, parents and seniors who live here, for thier health and recreation opportunities, that we need to hire a special person to figure out what this means.
please keep in mind that the district engineer and the cao have unsuccessfully applied for the infrastructure grant to pay for a sewage treatment plant a few years in a row now. the grant applications failed because they were deficient on the application/applicants end. we paid them anyway but nevermind.
and so were going to pay a new person to figure out how to apply for RMI money?
considering that the gas tax grant would cover an estimated 12-16 million in costs for a sewage treatment plant i would humbly suggest that the DOT reorganize and restructure their common sense to recognize something we term priorities.
jeez, it brings to mind a book title i saw once: "in search of the miraculous"
If Sally is willing to be un-fired, I say lets not give up the fight.
This decision was made without respecting the voters and citizens of Tofino. Democracy and respect is what founded Canada and what we do in Tofino.
Tofino at its best. Well done everyone! And thank you Ralph. Let's hope Council got the residents' very clear message:
* think for yourself before you act
* don't drink the kool-aid,and
* you are responsible for all that you cause to happen or agree to let happen on your watch!.
Any chance of another public meeting before Braden and Perry fly the coop?
No public council meeting until January now. Perry is done but Braden has at least two more council meetings. I say we keep going at 5:30 and keep asking why. They really did not answer anything last night and we all still have no idea of why they did it (to hire another person to run the RMI funds?) and what the new organization plan means to parks and rec (blah, blah I don't know why they can't talk about it because the ball is in Sally's court). Very dissatisfied with our council and I regret voting for them.
Does council now know that what they have done is WRONG? Does council have the guts to make it RIGHT? Does council realize that if they don't, their term will be doomed? People in this town will never trust again.... I would like to think that the sheer numbers at last night's meeting speak for themselves.
Perry also said this wasn't about money.So if its not about money or job performance what is it about ?
8:54
its about lies
Ralph. Thanks for putting together this synopsis. One point that I may add is that before the session ended, George asked if they would reconsider their decision regarding Sally.
Tofino Council. Thank-you very much for listening to our concerns last night.
There were many good points raised by the community. I think that Council comprehended the message.
The message that I got from the two members of Council that spoke is that they truly want to have dialogue, but their hands are tied with the "labour issue" and the constraints of municipal statute.
Dorothy appeared to me to be animated and almost bursting with wanting to tell us how the Parks and Recreation program will be maintained (more robust). Perry, after saying that it was a labour issue that could not be discussed and that the reorganisation is directly connected with, went on to say that Sally was given some options and that the "ball was in her court". While Sally has reportedly said that she has "not been contacted by any councillors with regards to her dismissal, that she was not offered an alternative position and that she has not received any reprimands or letters of criticism in her time with the District." I also note that some of her close friends in the room were shaking their heads indicating "No" when Perry stated that she had been contacted and the part about the options. This does not preclude the possibility that she may have been contacted at the eleventh hour before the Council meeting. I cannot speculate what these "options" are. Only Sally and Council know the facts and the details.
With the little that they were able to say last night and until the entire issue can be discussed openly, I have to give Council the benefit of the doubt and trust that they are doing, and will continue, to do the right thing for both Sally and the P&R program.
So maybe at the 11th hour DOT got sreved with a lawsuit!!
No new lawsuit. I checked the court registry this morning.
nothing personal.
due to corporate restructuring nothing this government does henceforth involves people, persons, or their personaalities.
its not personal. the parks and rec director sally isnt a person. nope.
and the people who voted to eliminate her unknowingly voted to erase their own persons.
so theres no accountability for anything the any people did. it was corporate. corporations arent persons.
did anyone remember if they voted to dissolve the concept of persons in the last election?
nothing personal. i just cant remember.
looked up dystopia online to see if it describes a state. seemed like the term was invented to describe an imaginary perversely bad and evil government, the opposite of utopia.
both words served equally well as topics of novels until now.
we have met the enemy and we are it.
When is the last time there was a coucil meeting with the number of people that we witessed last night? Ever? Council, you got a message LOUD AND CLEAR of what your employers want. Now get it done!! Quit telling us what we need and want. WE tell you.
What were Sally's options that Schmunk spoke of? Leave through door number one or leave through door number two?
3:32, our dystopia however, is not imaginary. It's the real thing.
If council are putting new policies and procedures in place, and cannot properly explain those policies they are implementing to the taxpayers who are asking simple questions, it is no wonder the townsfolk are bitter and frustrated with this council. When you leave a meeting and it raises more questions than answers, who is going to trust that logic?
Part of the prerequisite of being an employee in the public service should be open communication being able to handle adversity, and backing up your decision making by giving people actual answers.
It's easy for council to want to be patted on the back when everything goes well. However, when the townsfolk want answers and fight back when there are glaring issues, there are no answers and the finger pointing starts. Well, it wasn't my decision, it was this person's decision. I had nothing to do with this. I resolve my responsibility of that. And so on.
People will guess you have something to hide if you are not openly answering their questions. Until that type of behaviour changes, people in Tofino will continue to cast doubt and be wary of administration. It simply shouldn't be this way.
4:29!
Well put!
Thank you for your clear declaration of fact: WE ARE their EMPLOYERS!!
So they've got their restructure all charted up, but won't release it to the public until Sally is all paid off and gagged... That is what I got from last night.
Has Sally been invited to submit a guest posting? It would be good to know how she's doing.
Tofino is clearly a sad sad town full of visionaries that simply cannot see!
i would like to conclude tonights broadcast with a conclusion: a government that lies to its employers, us, we think is morally wrong.
fine upstanding decent honest clean candidates tell us they wont lie if elected.
once elected we see lies steadfastly coming from the newly elected who, just days before, extolled the virtues of open(honest disclosure)government, transparency etc.
the repeating fiasco of elected officials entering a schizophrenic state of delusions of grandeur by ignoring the truth surely cant be the only method of a group/tribe/clan/village carrying out the collective business of managing the water, disposing of the garbage and the poop, and keeping the peace.
anybody got any suggestions about how to treat this type of schizophrenia?
without lying about it
10:58, It's called recall. TOTAL RECALL! A vote of non-confidence. It's that simple. Clear the slate and start from scratch.
One question that keeps going through my mind is why would council vote the way they did? There are other departments within the walls of Tofino that are much more in need of serious revamping. The only answer I can come up with is that they were told something by someone that was far far less than truthful. What was his motivation?? Could it be he was paying a debt to those that got him to where he is now and to where he is going not soon enough?
http://www2.canada.com/westerly/news/story.html?id=4747b4d0-e6a1-4b31-bac7-7dd9b4924f3a
In the last sentence of the above article The mayor says people have to trust that council will treat people as fairly as possible. Who got treated fairly this time? Was it Sally? Was it the people of Tofino that bought into the campain lies of the current mayor and council? Judging by the turnout at the last meeting I'd say niether.
Trust that council will treat people fairly?
Trust or a lack thereof develops from past history.
Is there a history of council treating people fairly?
Anyone who's been in Tofino knows the answer to that is no.
Has council disclosed the number of past staff who have had to engage lawyers to ensure they were treated fairly by DOT?
Does anyone know how many staff have sought legal recourse against DOT - even if these cases didn't get to court before DOT lawyers agreed to pay people with OUR tax dollars.
Trust. Great idea. Hey DOT, please give citizens this key information to help us trust you.
http://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/161.asp?jobpostingid=18030&r=18126&r=18125&r=18124&r=18123&r=18122&r=18121&r=18120&r=18119&r=18118&r=18117&r=18116&r=18115&r=18114&r=18113&r=18112&r=18110&r=18109&r=18108&r=18106&r=18104&r=18103&r=18102&r=18101&r=18100&r=18099&r=18098&r=18097&r=18096&r=18095&r=18094&r=18093&r=18092&r=18090&r=18089&r=18088&r=18087&r=18084&r=18083&r=18082&r=18081&r=18080&r=18079&r=18077&r=18074&r=18073&r=18072&r=18071&r=18070&r=18069&r=18068&r=18067&r=18066&r=18065&r=18064&r=18063&r=18062&r=18061&r=18060&r=18059&r=18058&r=18057&r=18056&r=18055&r=18054&r=18053&r=18052&r=18049&r=18048&r=18043&r=18042&r=18041&r=18040&r=18039&r=18037&r=18036&r=18035&r=18032&r=18030&r=18027&r=18026&r=18024&r=18020&r=18019&r=18018&r=18017&r=18016&r=18015&r=18013&r=18012&r=18010&r=18008&r=18009&r=18005&r=17997&r=17994&r=17993&r=17989&r=17987&r=17986&r=17985&r=17971&r=17969&r=17967&r=17963&r=17957&r=17956&r=17953&r=17952&r=17948&r=17936&r=17932&r=17912&r=17865&r=17864&r=17846&r=17827&r=17732&r=17696&r=17456
Just looked at the posting for the CAO position at the above link..
"To achieve its mission of efficiently providing services that enhance the quality of life for all of its residents and visitors, the District of Tofino is looking to attract a seasoned executive as Chief Administrative Officer to take the community to its next stage of development."
"formulate and deliver a “customer comes first” service model"??
"You are a take charge, visionary strategic thinker with impeccable human resources and labour relations skills and a communicator with sound political judgement."??
"You are recognized as a catalyst for positive change within the workplace."??
Looks to me like they are looking for a COMPLETE opposite of what we currently have!
Am I wrong or is there a town hall meeting in January? The district website is lacking in meeting dates for January and beyond. If so lets put it on our calenders.
At the draft 2013 Budget meeting they discussed a Town Hall meeting for January 24th and another budget meeting the following day (January 25th).
How can Councillor Baert talk about a "robust" Parks and Rec when it was taken from a department with a director (Sally) and shunted off into an existing department without Sally. Councillor Baert, is Parks and Rec hiring more employees ? Is Parks and Rec operating with a bigger budget. Both answers are No so please explain your comments. They don't make any sense.
Thanks Brian once again, I think it's important for a big showing at the town hall mtg. Perhaps by then the ball will be out of "Sally's court" and back in the court of council. One positive thing, The smooth talking mayor won't be there. Who will take over the deceit next. It all starts with one little lie and before you know it it's out of control. on Tonight's Meeting : Corporate Strategic Disorganization
Baert mentioned jobs yet to be determined. So in the meantime they kick a senior staff person out the door who has an excellent track record and was so loved bythe community? Yes no doubt there will be jobs (plural) upcoming. It will take more than one to fill the void they've created.
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