In December, without much ado, Council made the decision to eliminate the position of Director of
Customer and Legislative Services . The Director's position included the Office of Municipal Clerk.
A Consultant Study on Service levels indicated the high cost of providing services was the result of the high level of service.
Following the simplistic justification for high costs an afterthought suggested elimination of a director;s position would save money.
Pre-emptively the knell fell on the above noted position.
The Clerk of the municipality is also the Elections Officer.
2014 is Election Year. Candidate registrations begin in January.
Last night, a Bylaw to appoint a Municipal Clerk was listed on the Agenda.
The statutory office of Clerk is required by provincial legislation.
The Bylaw had to be withdrawn .
The Deputy-clerk , who was to become Clerk, has accepted a position in New Tecumseh .On February 28th , the town will have neither Clerk nor Deputy Clerk nor Elections Officer.
The town solicitor has been appointed Acting Deputy Clerk as well as Director of bulah -bulah-bulah.
The Clerk before last, resigned on the fateful day in August when she provided, as she was required to do, the decision of the briefly ensconced Town of Aurora Integrity Commissioner.
The Deputy-clerk had gone on stress leave the week before, after the Integrity Commissioner provided his decision with instructions it be circulated.
The Deputy-Clerk was prohibited from so doing by the Acting CAO who was also town solicitor.
The month was August. The Office of Clerk was not filled until November.
It was the time it took for recruitment and appointment. 3 months.
The Deputy-Clerk did not return from stress leave until the new clerk took over .
In the Year of Our Lord, 2014, an election year, Aurora will be without a Municipal Clerk.
an Elections Officer and a Deputy Clerk for the next three months.
That's how long the recruitment process takes.
The Consultant of course is not accountable.
Council is.
Good on the Deputy-Clerk. I would get out of Dodge too.
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ReplyDeleteWhat is the net saving to the town as a result of the above?
Perhaps the town should be conducting a program of fiscal responsibility that would result in cost saving by using fewer consultants who produce nothing but fancy pipe dreams on paper that likely will never be realized as fact.
ReplyDeleteIs this gross mismanagement or just bad luck?
Will the Town Solicitor be entitled to a salary increase as a result of his added titles and duties?
And if yes, then how much?
ReplyDeletePresumably the town has a Personnel/Human Resources Director. The person charged with that responsibility probably deals with staff below the level of Director/Department Head.
Most likely the CAO, Mr. Garbe would deal with this small group of most senior staff.
Did he screw up in not knowing that the Deputy-clerk will be leaving for another municipality? Possibly people don't feel comfortable confiding in him.
This entire episode does not indicate any great managerial ability.
ReplyDeleteAny person qualified to do the job would probably do a bit of research into Aurora's experiences and decide that he/she would rather go to Inuvik than Aurora.
Do we get other peoples' discards?
Oh, my goodness. That is so darn funny ! Especially when you were the one accused of trying to micro-manage !
ReplyDeleteBack in the day, the clerk was a part-time position. We should hire a resident that has some time on his/her hands to do this. How hard can it be?
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ReplyDeleteI thought customer service was a priority for the Mayor - only to find the Director is axed. Oh well, if that's what the consultant said in the report who is council to argue.
I believe Councillor Buck asked to see the savings after the departure of the Clerk. I do not believe she has received an answer.
Not a good meeting for the Mayor. there were a few quite ugly moments. I would have liked to have heard the rest of Mr Heard's presentation. There couldn't have been that much time remaining & he was entitled to comment since the topic is current. I gathered that he was talking about an entire process and not accusing staff or Council of individual wrong-doing.
ReplyDeleteThat's 100% mismanagement. Now who knows what they're going to have to pay someone to replace the one if not two positions quickly.
ReplyDeleteWith all this confusion, both internally and in an open forum at Council Meetings, why in the world would someone A) apply for one of the vacant positions and B) throw their hat in the ring for the upcoming election???????
ReplyDeleteI opted to watch real Drama on TV ( the Olympics and Duck Dynasty) instead last night.
"I gathered that he was talking about an entire process and not accusing staff or Council of individual wrong-doing."
ReplyDeleteNo, I took it as an accusation of nefarious conduct by Town representatives. After issuing a warning, the mayor was right to cut off the mic.
16:19
ReplyDeleteGiven last night's performance with the mic being shut off, I don't think Mayor Dawe wants to hear what you just wrote.
Where is that letter the Mayor promised about how concerned councillors work with staff without interfering or being accused of meddling ?
ReplyDeleteIt is really over-due.
@ I7:23
ReplyDeleteIf one does not listen to problems either in private or at Council, they are left to fester.
ReplyDeleteIn most communities they refer to "civil service."
In Aurora it is often uncivil and a disservice.
Another character witness for E.
ReplyDeleteI liked & respected Mr Leach. I'm pretty sure he stood up to morris over that Sher trying to run when she wasn't actually listed yet as a resident. It does seem thoughtless to find Council without a clerk particularly in an election year.
ReplyDelete21:05
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if a Council thinks or doesn't.
Possibly individual members might, or then again, they might not.
It's hard keeping score with this lot.
"I'm not sure if a Council thinks or doesn't.
ReplyDeletePossibly individual members might, or then again, they might not."
Thanks, 22:09, when we're looking for definitive answers, we'll know who to ask.
If the position was eliminated in December, why did it take so long for the by-law to get to the Agenda ? All sorts of nonsense can find its way there in no time at all.
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