Herein Lies The Problem

Anonymous said:

Seems to me the mayor is using her resources well. Looks good to me. What's the
problem?

The problem is the reader's understanding of the difference between responsibilities of the function of a Chief Administrative Officer and an Administrative Assistant. Though not sure precisely and it would be entirely inappropriate for me to state specifically the difference in salary may be at least double. A person elected and paid for an office is expected to be competent without support from a functionary.

Voters do not elect two people to the office of Mayor. The Mayor does have an Executive Assistant on the public payroll. Said assistant does not not travel with the Mayor to schlep her goods and belongings. An Executive Assistant stays put and represents the Mayor in her/his absence.

An Executive Assistant is more than an administrative assistant who is more than a secretary. The previous Mayor shared an administrative assistant with the rest of Council. Cookie Ellis , the Mayor and Council's administrative assistant was more than obliging and of great assistance to the administration and generally loved by all, left within a few short weeks of this Mayor taking office.

The Role of the Chief Administrative Officer is not the same. The CAO is not a personal resource to the Mayor. Although he was previously employed by the Region in the Chief Administrative Officer's department, his position in Aurora is the top job. The C.A.O. is Head of the Town's Administrative body; Head Honcho of the bureaucracy. It is a considerably senior in responsibility to that of Executive Assistant to the Mayor and paid accordingly. In fact, the CAO has an Executive Assistant and a host of other personnel within his immediate authority, including manager of corporate communications.

The CAO's office is the hub from which the spokes of the bureaucratic wheel emanate. The Town has not always had a Chief Administrative Officer. Other Ontario Municipalities don't either.

The story of how we came to have one, might bear telling on some future occasion but it is not reflective of this Council. Erstwhile,the Chief Office serving Aurora and most other small municipalities is Clerk of the Municipality, now known in Aurora as Director of Corporate Services.

Though still an important statutary office, in Aurora.it has been relegated to a more menial position.

When the CAO is absent his office, there are at least three functionaries senior to the Clerk in Aurora. When I referred to various activities of the Chief Administrative Officer with the Mayor,overlooked was attendance at various Charity Golf Tournaments referred to by another Aurora citizen. No doubt my references in blogosphere will be received in high dudgeon, similar to high dudgeon expressed in the form of a complaint of harassment by the manager of corporate communications resulting from an apparent broadcast of the nature of his function referred to in this blog.

Uncomfortable it may be, and I respectfully suggest needless , considering professional requirements for discretion in public officials; when circumstances becomes subject of comment within the community, people do like to believe they have been heard and attention drawn to their concern.

I recognise information provided above falls short of an explanation. Frankly, I am flummoxed.

A credible explanation eludes me.