"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Sunday 28 June 2015

QUEER GOINGS ON

It's a dreary day. Things needing  to be done in the garden. Or just enjoyable time to be spent. The weather is not enticing  and a couple of stories in The Auroran keep demanding I read them again. 

One was  about Council and staff's concern over budget numbers. The other  the appointment of an interim CAO .

Memories of the last interim appointments are hardly satisfying .

First was appointment of statutory office of treasurer.

 According to the Municipal Act, the position must be filled by recruitment . The appointment is by bylaw and only Council can approve a Bylaw.

That's not how it happened. 

Council was informed  by CAO Neil Garbe in a closed door  meeting, he  had appointed a  treasurer on an interim basis. 

The previous treasurer had provided three months notice. He stayed until the budget was completed. 

Despite repeated enquiries  no recruitment process ever took place. 

After the interim appointment, Council were later informed ,Mr. Garbe had made the appointment  
permanent.

The  previous twelve months  employment  had been with a consultant. Prior to that he had been Treasurer of Richmond Hill for a number of years. 

 Richmond Hill had adopted a Commissioner system and the top position was filled by recruitment of a new Commissioner of Finance. 

After his appointment ,Mr. Elliot  apparently informed new colleagues in Aurora, the job offer was made over a coffee in a donut shop.

Aurora's current Manager of Communications  was appointed in equally unusual circumstances.

 Prior to Mormac , the town had one and a half persons in communications. 

The work load grew but  additional resources were denied.

It was decided to create a manager's position  requiring a Master's  Degree  in English. 

The  person doing the job satisfactorily for seven years  had a humble B.A.

A Manager was  ultimately appointed without the required Master's Degree touted in the media by the CAO.

The person doing the job returned  from vacation to find her office occupied and her stuff in boxes
elsewhere.

She left the town's employment with a satisfactory settlement .

The new  Manager was not long on the job before he disappeared into  long-term disability. 

Current Manager of Communications. was "seconded" from York  Region and appointed on an interim basis  to the Aurora position. Soon as per previous practice it also became permanent.

Communication staff swelled substantially in numbers. 

I  must admit I find  it hard to imagine how the eight hour days are  filled  five days a week. 

So now we have another interim appointment to fill the Grand Pooh Bah position. 

Listed credentials are incredible. ..literally. 

Nowhere is the title of consultant stated.

Yet it cannot be otherwise

Why so shy?

And why is no fee stated ?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...


Interim Musical Chairs.

Will any real decisions be made or simply deferred until an Interim CAO is found to lead the search for a permanent one?

Anonymous said...

If someone is chosen within the region or GTA they've known for a while now who it's going to be. Everyone knows everyone within a 100km radius. Or they might decide to go outside, like Vaughan. The chose someone from Ottawa. You need big bucks for that kind of search, and it takes a while.

Anonymous said...

Communications has grown like a invasive fungus - killing everything it touches and producing nothing but talking heads. I am pretty sure that all the notices about Garbe's departure in the Auroran were written by himself. The Mayor held his comments until he could no longer avoid ' making nice ' about being abandoned.

Anonymous said...

An interim CAO has been hired, 16:31.

Anonymous said...

They are professing concern over the budget figures now but not when they announced how well they had done with them. There does seem to be discontent in the community but not enough to change the pattern set last term to give whatever is demanded. It can be done but will take effort to effect the next budget.

Anonymous said...



19:21

WHO?

Going for broke said...

Recently a Councillor suggested the Town badly needed a source of income.Now thats scary.

Anonymous said...

Abandoned? For all we know, Garbe could have been told to apply for the job in Richmond Hill or his exit it could have even been arranged for him.

Anonymous said...

Communications jobs are the new growth industry. People like Chris Watts complain about ineffective communications and the only way to resolve it is to throw money at it.

Anonymous said...

No need to shout, 22:17. His name is Patrick Moyle.

Anonymous said...

Nice title of this post - considering it's Pride week/parade day!

Anonymous said...


All of this tells me there is too much money to go around. Never a whisper that we might be short on cash to fund a departure or to fund a new position. Just turn on the tap and the green stuff flows. The treasurer/council can fix any shortfall with a tax hike.

Anonymous said...

6:12
Sure and pigs fly too. The Mayor could not do such a thing - it would be too ' in your face '.
I find it interesting that the opposite to ' in your face ' could be ' behind your back ' . It seems better suited imo.

Anonymous said...

10:20- Yup that's right! And no tax hike needed. There was someone who commented a few posts ago how the piggy bank will never empty because of all the housing development that was going on. So I guess according to that "strategic plan", if we need more money, all we have to do is build more houses.

Anonymous said...

12:14- Politics dear friend is brutal. In your face or behind your back is the same thing. It happens in the corporate world everyday.

Anonymous said...

Communication is a controlled position. They print or communicate what, where and when and sometimes how to, and not anything else. Throwing money at the dept. will not help.