"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

Wednesday 21 April 2010

Yesterday

Love was such an easy game to play.

Not really.

It was a strange day.

Last week I came across a Town of Aurora Ad for Parking Control Officers

There was no reference to vacancy or numbers. Considering the current town climate I take note of these things

The cost of recruitment for the Clerk's position was cited as $14,000.We had to do it twice within
a year which would be $28,000.

Cost was the reason cited for not "recruiting" a Treasurer.

So it occurred to me to wonder how much this process cost. Are there vacancies or are we adding to the complement of parking control officers.

There was no talk of needing extra parking control officers during budget discussions. We have a brand new Manager of Bylaws Services.

So I asked.

Turns out we are not hiring additional officers. There are no vacancies. A message from the Treasurer indicates the following:

These positions are contract only and they are up for renewal.
At the manager's request advertising was placed and a recruitment
conducted to ensure we have the best candidates in these positions
rather than blindly renewing the contracts with the existing group of
people.
There is no intention to increase the number of positions or the cost
to the town.rather simply to ensure the Town is best served in the
responsibility and service area.

I share this information but residents need to know my bias:

1. I believe every decision made within the Town Hall is either approved or instigated by the
Mayor.

2. I think people who have been doing a job for several years, presumably satisfactorily.
contract or permanent, part-time or full-time, are a known quantity. They are an asset
to the corporation.

3. I think people who have every reason to believe their work has been satisfactory, should
not have to compete for their own jobs.

4. I don't think that's fair labour practice.

5. My final bias is my role in this matter. I am elected to provide oversight of the town's
administration to ensure all things done in the name of the people are done with
equity, fairness and justice, according to my understanding of those principles. .

I asked my questions openly. I followed protocol . My questions and the answers were circulated to all members of council.

That was yesterday.

A thoroughly scurrilous and insulting e-mail referring to my inquiry from Councillor Wilson to the Chief Administrative Officer was circulated to all Councillors.

If I knew how to cut and paste it, I would.

Councillor Wilson, in particular circumstances is belligerent and abusive at times. At different times the injustice of it all is a great burden to him.

The "re-org" approved by council on a consultant's recommendation concerns me. Changes were made ,the purpose of which were not immediately clear.

Traditionally, Bylaws, Human Resources and Communications have been the responsibility of the Town Clerk. An experienced clerk has experience in all these areas.

The "re-org" transferred Bylaws to the Chief Building Official. Human Resources were transferred to the Treasurer.

No evidence is available to suggest there is any experience in the new responsibilities.

Last night, in General Committee Meeting of Council. Councillor Al Wilson was in the chair.

It started at seven p.m. At nine-forty-five p.m. all I needed was a place to hide away.

So I went home.

5 comments:

Something Fishy in Aurora said...

“If I knew how to cut and paste it, I would.”

Quick and easy:

http://www.lollie.com/happy/cutandpaste.html

Anonymous said...

Can someone please explain to Evelyn how to cut and paste because I would very much like to see Cllr. Wilson's missive. I am embarrased to admit that half the time I don't remember how to do it for myself!
Getting back to Al Wilson, I can appreciate that Evelyn is not one of his favourite people, she is after all, a woman, she is obviously smarter than him and she is suing him. I suppose if I were him I would find that reason enough to despise and to belittle everything she says. However, he certainly cannot blame Evelyn or any of his other council collegues for his lazy, unprofessional, disorganized and incompetant performance as a member of Aurora's Town Council. I can make alot of allowances for a first timer but after almost four years on the job, I expect much more than what has been delivered. Al considers himself a tax crusader, and maybe when he was first elected, he meant it and had only the best intentions. His voting record tells a different story. Where he lost me and perhaps many other council followers, is in his disrespectful conduct towards Evelyn, his sneering sarcastic commentary directed towards her whenever she opens her mouth, regardless of the issue,and all of that went on long before she got a lawyer. Often when the camera pans past Al during a meeting he is reclining back in his chair, looking bored and disinterested. And nobody could convince me that he has ever bothered to read an agenda before attending a meeting. Rather than put in the time and effort to understand and form an opinion on all matters before the council, he picks and chooses what interests him and simply takes directions from Phyllis or Evelina on the rest. When something does spark his interest, rather then present intelligent or thoughtful commentary he is petulant and accusatory towards those who disagree with his point of view, when he doesn't understand or get his way, he can be rude and condesending towards staff. I will say that I have seen some improvement in his deportment at since the new year, he seems more engaged and certainly shuffles his papers around alot more than he used to. I don't know if that is because he has a student councillor sitting beside him or because it is an election year. I guess that is up to the voters to decide.

Luckywife

Anonymous said...

Evelyn, cut and paste is easy.

Put your cursor on the upper left most portion of the text, hold the left button on your mouse down and move the cursor to the bottom right most portion of the text you are copying by sliding your mouse.

As it moves the text will show in reverse.

Release the left mouse button, move the cursor over the reversed text and press the right mouse button. A menu will pop up. Left click on 'copy'.

This text is now in memory.

Go to whatever text document or program you want to copy to, place the cursor where you want the text to start, and press the right mouse button, the little pop up menu appears again.

Left click on 'paste'

Voila!

We look forward to seeing the results of your efforts.

Anonymous said...

EVELYN GOES FOR GOLD!!!

Something Fishy in Aurora said...

I see you figured it out...good work!