- Brian Steven said...
- I attended the draft 2013 Budget meeting this morning. Other than the Westerly News, I was the only member of the public attending.
I was able to ask a couple of questions at the end of the meeting. I asked how many staff positions are included in the 2013 salary and benefits envelope for Parks and Recreation. Council didn't seem to know the answer and referred it to staff. After some fumbling looking at figures and discussion between the COA and the finance officer, I was told that there are two full time positions (a program person and an assistant), as well as a summer student.
I asked where the other positions / structure mentioned in the December 03rd Press Release were located. They said that it was RMI money and will be covered by that envelope. I told them that I was trying to visualize what the new structure mentioned in the PR was going to look like and I was not getting any information to help me do that. They talked amongst themselves about maybe getting the new org chart out. Cathy said that they want to create a position to oversee RMI projects. They asked if I understood this. I said I understood only partially what they were doing. They said that they are confident that P&R service delivery will not be affected. I said that I knew that was not possible with the removal of one full time equivalent from such a small program. Discussion ended and they went on to the in-camera session.
I learned more this morning of what is going on than I have in the past week and a half. It appears more bungled than I thought. I don't see how they can tie a position for RMI projects that will be funded by RMI translates into a P&R position funded from the general budget. As they did not seem able to explain the new structure, it is looking more to me as if they really did fire Sally simply to save money.
I was surprised that I was the only person there. I hope that the people of Tofino who are concerned about the gutting of this program come out tomorrow to communicate their concerns.
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One would think that staff and council would have some clear and concise answers to these simple questions.Thank you for the comment.
ReplyDeleteYes Ralph. It's clearly a plan without a plan!
ReplyDeletethankns for the update Brian. One would think that more people would show up. The inconcise responses and confusion is not a good sign. I would think that there are other methods of saving, such as not making decisions that lead to lawsuits.
ReplyDeletei would call it a scam plan.
ReplyDeleteall that corporate lingo jargon is usually a scam for corporations dirty business, like making 3 jobs into one for the same pay and firing 2 people, or some other such chicanery.
and its what happens when guys like CAOs get go to seminars in big places and bring back these bright ideas. to the huge metropolis of tofino.
theres good ideas in those things too.
besides using the "plan" to fire sally that was the plan. the rest of it is hogwash.
so the way i understand it we need a resort services department to figure out how to spend the hotel tax money and RMI money or is the resort services department to deliver municipal services to the resorts? are they not getting enough service?
now is there going to be residential service department too? or does fixed roof accom. get service and the rest of us dont?
how many people does it take to figure out how to spend money? is the spending money to be spent in the community? putting on tourism tofino events or lets all fly to a tourism trade show----
attending a budget meeting isnt very interesting and council brooks no public criticism of its budget(or anything else)anyway.
ReplyDeleteits always good if someone goes as a watchdog for all of us.
thank you brian
Morale at the district of tofino has hit an alltime low. Most of the staff are deeply saddened by the loss of Sally, so much so that the DOT staff Xmas party scheduled for this past weekend was cancelled because staff wouldn't go. Way to go council and CAO. Thanks for motivating the staff so well whose wages I pay. Merry Christmas to you too!
ReplyDeleteWhere's the mayor hiding?
ReplyDeleteWhy have we only heard from one of the candidates ?
ReplyDeleteIt's disheartening that them vs us is the way this council has chosen to run our town.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a terribly poor way of running an organization. With a new mayor and the departure of Braeden maybe we can disband this divide and conquer strategy started by Bob Long and realise that we are all part of the same team.
You are right . Its about us.
ReplyDeleteI think this council is poisoned by the hourglass. We will not see change for 2 more years. I hope fresh community members run in the next election.
ReplyDelete6:40 he's hiding in Vancouver. The restructuring may very well be part of him. It smells of Whistler. They have a very similar structure. He used to live there. He's announced that he's leaving. Just leave.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that they've been poisoned by it. But they have been manipulated by it. Wake up and make it right or you will lose all respect.
ReplyDeleteI find this lack of public input saddening ! The peoples lack of intrest only feed the powers that be to believe that they are doing the peoples bidding ! Where is the peoples strong voice ? Where are the conplaints to the districts office ? Where are the protest signs ? And where are the tax revolts ? Its time for the tax payer to stand up and be heard! Without it ,its busness as usual! Thanks to you Ralph for your tiredless efforts to being The rate payers watch dog !
ReplyDeleteI remember years ago when he first started working for a major resort. He had no problem firing people just before Christmas.
ReplyDeleteAll the nice smiles and warm fuzzes we got from him during his campaign. IMO, they were fake.
The chickens have come home to roost.
iven the crisis in credibility coming to a christmas head in our local headquarters its time we identify the problem and do something about it.
ReplyDeleteit boils down to systemic lies.
being deliberately untruthful to the public entails a process of moral corruption that begins with a little white lie here and there and ends about where we are now with complete and hurtful dishonesty. the privilege of power. this government does not change its decisions! the illusion that self-righteous behaviour based on lies is decent and respectable.
it seems like perfectly fine decent well intentioned people stand for election believing that the political process is one that can be fine and decent as well.
well.....its not, we find out, once elected.
the deceits are subtle ranging from higher levels of government doings on down to employees reports to professional consultants information.
elected bodies are lied to but it seems like nobody really decides to lie to anybody. it just happens. its politics. we, the enlightened, know far more than ye the dumb - who elected us.
and its just politics that the fine upstanding citizens who got elected based upon peoples expectations of truth and honesty in government find themselves required to lie.
when i say lie it implies and includes individuals not bothering to question what they are being told. and that means finding out the truth. even if it means not deciding on one thing or another. or being able to re-consider actions taken. like the F-18 deal.
it takes honesty to admit a mistake and decency to correct it. and a conscience. unless somewhere along the line elected officials are required to sign a waiver of conscience form.
now is there any difference between untruth and deception? i ask this because it seems like lies are simple but deception is not.
it feels like the practice of politicians deceiving the electors needs to voluntarily stop now.
it doesnt work anymore. were tired of it. its ugly.
the citizens have come home to roost
ReplyDeleteSometimes intelligent,well meaning people are fooled by a single individual.Look how many bright investors handed over their fortunes to Bernie Madoff.They were told by financial advisors and friends not to invest but ignored all outside advice.
ReplyDeleteGet the right salesman alone with you behind closed doors and any bill of goods can be sold.
Will the next corporate restructuring see Public Works renamed Ministry of Truth and staffed by foreign Chinese workers ? Will finance be transferred to a call centre in Manila ? It took a previous mayor two terms to reach the level of unpopularity that this council achieved with a single motion. please rethink this decision.
ReplyDeleteBrian metioned council talked about a new org chart. While I havn't seen it (nobody's seen it to my knowlege), I would be quite sure that at the very top of the chart are the people of Tofino. Somehow council didn't notice this because anyone I've talked to on the streets isn't in favor of this restructuring.
ReplyDeletegreat idea! a call center in mumbai will be cheaper for answering the districts phone calls.
ReplyDeletecloudsource the district office.
we can outsource public works to victoria.
downsize vancouver island and get everyone who is thrown out of work by these things to volunteer as tsunami guides.
by then we will require access permits for walking and surfing on the beaches but only with a tsunami guide.
id say we need drones for bylaw enforcement especially for those criminal miscreants on chesterpie beach who would dare attempt to drink a glass of wine in view of the public.
lets outsource all the birds and wildlife. clouds & rain too.....weve already outsourced the truth to the blogosphere
ReplyDeleteDon't fret councilors. We all get duped at some point.
Heck, even some dang fool in Winnipeg got the wool pulled over his eyes recently.
we could hold a referendum vote to restructure the local government.
ReplyDeleteor consider the term "malfeasance" and how it relates to corporate governance.
after less than a year in office, without public input, the current council deems itself knowledgable capable and experienced enough to naively undertake corporate re-structuring without understanding why besides someone told them to. times change rapidly now. last years ideas are obsolete today. yesterdays stereo and record collection are todays ipods.
time to think out of the corporate box. its too big. its harmful and dumb.
about the org chart,
ReplyDeletewhat does a chart have to do with reality?
will an org chart make any difference to anybody besides a consultant? nope, its raining.
The DOT was not prepared for this organizational change. They do not have an ORG chart for us to see, they have no mention of this department on their website, they have no corporate strategic plan on their website and they are not offering open communication regarding this change. In fact it appears that staff are no prepared to answer questions about the change and what it means to the community. If the DOT had a strategic plan and a solid communication plan in place for this change for us to see then there would be less questions. I hope they have more information for the community tonight.
ReplyDeleteif this structure stuff is part of a criteria for becoming a resort municiplaity; it stinks.
ReplyDeleteits suggested that we all get informed about what this mularkey is all about.
or we'll all dissect it here. on the blog.
good job on the radio. Are you going to be a regular feature ?
ReplyDeleteI am still trying to comprehend the motivation behind this most unethical decision by Council. As I sat through the budget meeting yesterday, I was thinking that I know most of these Councillors and I do not know any of them to be malicious. In fact, I think quite the opposite. So, what happened here? I got some answers when I asked the question about the number of staff (full time and / or part time) that the proposed 2013 P&R budget represents. When Council referred it to the CAO and Finance, and they took almost a minute to discuss and answer , I got it.
ReplyDeleteIf Council was about to restructure a department, one would think that there would have been some in-depth analysis regarding the current structure and workload, existing and projected workload, current corporate knowledge, future training / retraining needs, etc. I spent almost half of my career either working directly on, or being part of, restructuring, realigning or whatever other term we are using in the moment. This is pretty simple stuff, but requires an unbiased and logical assessment. If even a simple cursory assessment had been conducted, I am sure all of them would know the numbers and structure of this department and would have had the answers on the tip of their tongue. After this, they were still trying to assure me that we would see no change in program delivery.
So, was this a Groupthink decision? Was there critical evaluation of the information presented regarding Sally's position and the department? Or was the decision opinion-based to match the consensus? Was there a persuasive one who led this and persuaded the others to agree with their opinion (maybe against their better judgment)? After watching the room dynamics yesterday and the statements made by individual Councilors regarding specific budget items that were clearly opinion-based and not backed up with facts, I think that this is a possibility.
I find it very disturbing that they have not given this action sober second thought and seem to be surging ahead.
I have known Sally for many years. In her role as Director of Parks and Recreation, I have always found here to be one of the best of DOT staff to deal with. She has always been professional, respectful of all and consistently delivers on her program. Her knowledge and expertise is an enormous loss to Tofino.
If you value your Parks and Recreation program, let your Council know what you think. Come out tonight and have an open and transparent discussion with your elected Council. If you cannot attend, send an e-mail, write a letter, phone them or stop them on the street.
Since we are going through an election for a new mayor, why don't the councillors all resign and run again. If they feel they are representing the "will" of the people, lets put it to a vote.
ReplyDeleteexcellent observance from brian steven. we all see that there is something fishy here and it aint salmon
ReplyDeleteWhy is the CAO dreaming up ways of getting rid of employees instead of seeking grants for sewer ,water and roads ? Council should question this.
ReplyDeleteHow do you know if it was the CAO who suggested firing Sally ? It was a unanimous vote by Council.
ReplyDeleteThank you Brian for your comments but more important your participation. You, Sally and others are the "stuff" that enables small communities to thrive. You are the heart - "the lion that smiles" - when removed become
ReplyDeletelonely and sad. Our town feels sad...some of the joy has been cut away...why do we live here when it seems our best can so easily be pushed aside. The justification is illusive, the rationale missing - can the powerful explain? will our town be able to grow a new heart?
Hi there,I just got back from the council meeting and I am writing this question now, as I could not think on my feet in there. I did write a letter to council in regards to Sally's termination that will be addressed tonight as well. I would like to ask council:
ReplyDeleteAs a taxpayer myself and from what I saw tonight from other taxpayers and members of the community there has been no rumbling in regards to taxpayers being unhappy with the structure of the parks and rec department, nor did any tax payers seem to have issues with the budget of the parks and rec department/ salaries etc... If this is the case, why did they re-organize the department? I know taxpayers have rumbled about other departments, but never parks and rec. So I ask what brought on this initiative? There were no answers tonight and we will likely never get any. As they mentioned tonight the ball is in Sally's court, "what ever that means". Was she offered another position in the district with the re-structuring or simply fired with a severence?? Answers we will never no. I want to thank Sally for all she has done for Tofino and let's hope council can make the right descisions for our future.
How do we know IF it's the CAO suggesting the firing of Sally....
ReplyDeleteGood question. Ish.
Council doesn't micro-manage staff.
Council decides upon large scale direction for the town. The administration is delegated the responsibility and control necessary to fulfil that vision.
Council couldn't tell you who half the staff is,let alone plan to fire them on their part time/ half time/ overworked and underpaid jobs!
That is the work of a CAO.
And what was the budget for getting rid of the parks and rec director? What is the budgeted increase in wages for the manager of community sustainabiliy given the major increases in staffing and responsibilities he now has? Is he also looking after daycare? If there are other responsibilities being pushed onto other departments (pw?) they will also be looking into an increase. And the parks and rec salary is only seeing a decrease of 30,000? It just doesn't add up!
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