Had a short exchange with Councillor Mrakas on Facebook .Thought I'd share. Like many stories, it has a beginning, not necessarily an end.
A recent call to the town took twelve or fifteen rings before an answer, then placed on hold for a further ten minutes. Customer Service attendant was attending to a customer at the desk.
I was not aware of town retail sales initiative.
The 2015 budget included two additional staff for C.S. Department. Council had understood the program would not require additional personnel.
Newmarket and Whitchurch-Stouffville were doing it.
The new facility took forever to build with a new manager's office at the rear. The job of a twenty-six year employee was snatched out from under. Apart from ethics,
the severance would be expensive.
Purpose of re-organization was to facilitate access to appropriate town departments.
A manager permanently appointed from a contract position in charge of accessibility initiative gave the first lie to the statement there would be no additional staff.
Her replacement was youth co-ordinator in recreation. Without experience but increased salary.
My first experience with C.S was a parking problem.. A resident asked for a meeting after weeks of involvement with the Mayor's office and C.S. At the meeting, we learned C.S.manager had tried personally, earnestly and unsuccessfully to resolve the problem with repeated contact with regional police. She was not aware the town had a traffic engineering division.
The Russian resident was not fluent in English. An interpreter was retained at town expense,got stuck in traffic and arrived too late.
Two weeks before last, reading to the end of Brock Weir's column in The Auroran, I learned the town iis in the retail business of selling souvenirs at the Customer Service desk in the Town Hall.
Now to the exchange on Facebook with Councillor Mrakas.
It seems the item never came before Council. There was no discussion or approval of the enterprise. No reference to the initiative during budget and no indication of cost or anticipated revenues.
Yesterday I visited the town web site to access street maps. Found no maps. But did find sales promotion of dishes bearing town logo and such.
So questions arise:
Whose office did the sales rep visit?
Who was responsibile for making the executive decision to launch into retail enterprise?
Who assigned responsibility to Customer Service?
Who ordered inventory and created accommodation?
Who directed Communications to promote sales?
What's going on?
Does Aurora Council accept their phoney- baloney decorative role in the grand scheme of things?
I hear during Council meetings the Mayor busies himself with his blackberry when a speaker is of no interest. Lap tops in front of Councillor Abel and various Directors are open at pages unrelated to Council matters being discussed.
Time off in-lieu is provided for time spent by dIrectors at meetings.
ReplyDeleteI think retail is just great.
Think, the town could rerun videos of old Council meetings - the bad ones - where people were sworn at and shafted.
As part of this entertainment fresh popcorn could be sold, the profits from which might be astronomical.
The Treasurer might weep with joy as the town's budget got balanced with NO NEW TAXES.
If you check back issues of the Auroran, Brock Weir had an article on the stuff the town is trying to flog and how it could be improved. I do not know if it matters but when I went on Wednesday afternoon around 4:30 to pay something off, there were 4 ladies sitting waiting to help. The place was empty and they looked bored silly./ At least you used to be able to get blue boxes to give them something to do.
ReplyDeleteYou should see the Heritage meetings.
ReplyDeleteMember Constable is glued to a Blackberry during the meeting.
but if you call him on anything, the rejoinder is swift.
ReplyDeleteIt was a mistake and there was a failure of coomunications
Now that another councillor has had to hit the bricks , there is one more body with too much time on hand.
ReplyDeleteThey should all just stick to driving around checking pot holes and leave the dream stuff alone.
A couple of things.
ReplyDeleteWho uses a Blackberry anymore? That says volumes about those that do. Considering the Town flogs an app to track grabage and recyle collection that DOES NOT WORK on a Blackberry, the fact they have is laughable.
Isn't the role of selling Town swag part of the job of the Chamber of Commerce?
Regarding The Auroran. Is it still being printed? I have not received one (SW Aurora) in months.
Maybe if the expenditure is kept sufficiently low. the project does not have to get council approval ? The department heads are allowed a really generous ceiling imo. I think it is way too high except perhaps for Mr Downey's
ReplyDelete@16:02
ReplyDeleteAuroran in the mailbox or on top of the garbage box every week here ( SW Aurora too }
Yikes - I would be careful of the "from what I hear" ......
ReplyDeleteI am reluctant to admit it but I miss the departed CAO. He at least was aware of what was going on around him. And pointed out sink holes, boulders and the like. Now it's really getting messy.
ReplyDeleteGreat Auroran this week
ReplyDelete14:19: I wish I got it, have not had one in months
ReplyDelete