Blog postings and Letters to the Editor are very satisfying. I spend an average of four or five hours on each. I write it, leave it a few hours, read it to ensure it makes sense. I repeat the exercise and keep on making changes, sometimes even after it's been posted.
I write nothing that can't be verified. Council and committee meetings are audio and visually recorded. A tape is available for the asking. When I write a Blog or a letter, I'm aware of the likely reaction when the main characters are not enhanced by their own actions or comments.
It's fast and furious and telling. This week, there's a reference to my application under the Freedom of Information Act. I did not make such an application. . I spoke to a staff person and requested a form. No resident would know that
It's not hard to pick up signs. The substance of a conversation with a staff person showing up in Mayoralty comments within hours or days is a dead giveaway.
Comments I receive when out and about assure me ,my efforts with the blog and letters are well received. People give me all the encouragement I need. In an ideal Council, every member brings something different to the job. Communication is the skill I learned best from the opportunity provided by voters in Aurora. I always used letters to the editor but in my wildest dreams. I never imagined such a tool as The Blog.
So now to continue the previous discourse: on cost differences between providing a service with town forces versus an outside contract.
The town provides a variety of services. Corporate Services, Works and Recreation are the biggest. They do not function independently. They are supported by tvarious departments which comprise the whole administration.
Corporate Services provide communication between departments. and to the public. I'm not sure of all the services provided by Human resources but they are substantial. They negotiate contracts, create job descriptions, advertise for replacements, receive applications, set up interviews. receive and process grievances and I think there's a nurse on staff.
Treasury handles payroll, purchasing and keeps track of department budgets.
Legal services work on contracts and agreements and litigation and keep everybody functioning within the law.
Communications inform the community .They are currently also acting as personal political promotion for the Mayor's office. Check Media releases for the number of references to Mayoralty thoughts and reflections.
The Chief Administrative Officer provides supervision, support and direction to all departments. He ensures council's directions are understood and followed. Garbled and contradictory resolutions tabled without notice or circulation and passed by council, sight unseen, are not conducive to the successful operation of that department.
For budget purposes, a factor for the cost of each supporting department listed above, is charged to the department receiving the support. Except for legal services. The Mayor's ability to retain legal council whenever she thinks she will, skewers and obscures that department's budget substantially.
In 2003, when the Clerk made a calculation of the election recount cost, the figure was dismissed as ridiculous by a councillor because the work would be done by staff. It was then I learned how costs are calculated. It made sense then and it does now and people paying the bills need to know that. We are putting our hands into other people's pockets when we vote for these expenditures.
I'm not certain the hourly rates I provided in the previous blog included all the factors mentioned above. To be precise, they must include all benefits; health, pension, vacation, statutory holidays, sick time, time off for funerals and birthdays and life insurance. and everything that's part of a collective agreement.
Even though they do carry the profit factor,private contractors do not carry the same load for administrative overhead or union contracts..
For years now, municipalities have turned to external contracts to control the cost of providing service. There can be no argument that the windrow clearing provided by the town's work force compares with a contract price. Council were advised of that by the Director of Public Works before they made the decision to provide the service at full cost recovery.
The torrent of abuse hurled at my head should not be allowed to distract attention from the relevant fact; Council's intent was yhat the cost of the windrwo program was to be recovered from the recipients of the service. Council's authority was disrespected and undermined. The community has not been well served .The question still stands. Who was responsible?
I write nothing that can't be verified. Council and committee meetings are audio and visually recorded. A tape is available for the asking. When I write a Blog or a letter, I'm aware of the likely reaction when the main characters are not enhanced by their own actions or comments.
It's fast and furious and telling. This week, there's a reference to my application under the Freedom of Information Act. I did not make such an application. . I spoke to a staff person and requested a form. No resident would know that
It's not hard to pick up signs. The substance of a conversation with a staff person showing up in Mayoralty comments within hours or days is a dead giveaway.
Comments I receive when out and about assure me ,my efforts with the blog and letters are well received. People give me all the encouragement I need. In an ideal Council, every member brings something different to the job. Communication is the skill I learned best from the opportunity provided by voters in Aurora. I always used letters to the editor but in my wildest dreams. I never imagined such a tool as The Blog.
So now to continue the previous discourse: on cost differences between providing a service with town forces versus an outside contract.
The town provides a variety of services. Corporate Services, Works and Recreation are the biggest. They do not function independently. They are supported by tvarious departments which comprise the whole administration.
Corporate Services provide communication between departments. and to the public. I'm not sure of all the services provided by Human resources but they are substantial. They negotiate contracts, create job descriptions, advertise for replacements, receive applications, set up interviews. receive and process grievances and I think there's a nurse on staff.
Treasury handles payroll, purchasing and keeps track of department budgets.
Legal services work on contracts and agreements and litigation and keep everybody functioning within the law.
Communications inform the community .They are currently also acting as personal political promotion for the Mayor's office. Check Media releases for the number of references to Mayoralty thoughts and reflections.
The Chief Administrative Officer provides supervision, support and direction to all departments. He ensures council's directions are understood and followed. Garbled and contradictory resolutions tabled without notice or circulation and passed by council, sight unseen, are not conducive to the successful operation of that department.
For budget purposes, a factor for the cost of each supporting department listed above, is charged to the department receiving the support. Except for legal services. The Mayor's ability to retain legal council whenever she thinks she will, skewers and obscures that department's budget substantially.
In 2003, when the Clerk made a calculation of the election recount cost, the figure was dismissed as ridiculous by a councillor because the work would be done by staff. It was then I learned how costs are calculated. It made sense then and it does now and people paying the bills need to know that. We are putting our hands into other people's pockets when we vote for these expenditures.
I'm not certain the hourly rates I provided in the previous blog included all the factors mentioned above. To be precise, they must include all benefits; health, pension, vacation, statutory holidays, sick time, time off for funerals and birthdays and life insurance. and everything that's part of a collective agreement.
Even though they do carry the profit factor,private contractors do not carry the same load for administrative overhead or union contracts..
For years now, municipalities have turned to external contracts to control the cost of providing service. There can be no argument that the windrow clearing provided by the town's work force compares with a contract price. Council were advised of that by the Director of Public Works before they made the decision to provide the service at full cost recovery.
The torrent of abuse hurled at my head should not be allowed to distract attention from the relevant fact; Council's intent was yhat the cost of the windrwo program was to be recovered from the recipients of the service. Council's authority was disrespected and undermined. The community has not been well served .The question still stands. Who was responsible?
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