"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

Tuesday 31 March 2009

Tumultuous Tuesday

I've written half a dozen Blogs since and assigned them to the draft file. They will not see the light of day until I deal with this particular issue.

Last Tuesday, a scheduled workshop meeting did not take place but a late item was added to a closed door agenda. Council was informed of a decision made by the Chief Administrative Officer. It was not, as required by the rules, reported out to the public meeting.

I do not believe the matter belonged behind closed doors . Neither do I believe it was a decision within the authority of the C.A.O. Although I have no doubt the Mayor and one Councillor were privy to the decision beforehand, I believe the rest of council was not.

John Gutteridge, Chief Financial Officer submitted his resignation to the Town on January 5th.
It was no surprise.I had been anticipating it since the departure of CAO, John Rogers. Mr Gutteridge indicated he would leave on April 15th.after the budget was completed.

By mid-March, there were no signs of recruitment. The process is administrative. On Tuesday, March 24th, I planned to inquire about progress. Instead, Council was informed behind closed doors the decision had been made to hire an Interim Financial Officer, a candidate had been chosen and would be in place on April 1st.

A Municipal Treasurer is a Statutory Officer.He/She is responsible for upholding Provincial Regulations governing Municipal Finance Procedures as well Municipal Bylaws on Policies and Procedures.His name is on every Town cheque issued. For legal accountablity such an officer must be appointed by Bylaw. Only Council votes on Bylaws. The decision therefore is beyond the scope of the Chief Administrative Officer.

I needed to confirm my conclusions. A phone call to the office of Director of Corporate Service, also a Statutory Officer, came up blank. Alternately,I called the Office of the Town Solicitor. I posed my questions He advised he would get back to me..

.He did. He said "protocol" indicates he can only answer questions on a resolution of Council. I asked him to cite "the protocol" and where I might find it. . He was unable to do that either.

My conviction grows that the town's affairs are not being properly administered. Things do not improve.
.

9 comments:

aurora 5 by 5 said...

I have learned not to question your facts, Ms. Buck so I won't ask you if you're sure. But I will ask you one question - just what the heck is going on over there?

It appears as though, in no short order, we now have a statutory officer appointed without due process, without council review or approval.

a Town solicitor - a guy on the job what 3 days?? - that has clearly been told not to tell you anything (how else to explain the “protocol” nonsense, eh? Shocking! This does not speak well of the new solicitor's abilities)

and, worst of all, a CAO that, on a daily basis, demonstrates that he doesn't know what he's doing – aside from following “orders”...

and we all know where the "orders" come from...

It is all clearly being orchestrated by the co-mayors

good grief, will the madness never end...

Anonymous said...

The question is what authorities can be called?
And who has the whatsits to do so?

Anonymous said...

I don't get it...

are you saying that the CAO didn't have the authourity to hire a director?

why??

Anonymous said...

I don't understand the problem.

Anonymous said...

"are you saying that the CAO didn't have the authourity to hire a director?"

I think these things need to be approved by council as they are expenditures.

Anonymous said...

You said above "He said "protocol" indicates he can only answer questions on a resolution of Council."

Wasn't there some hubbub not long ago because Councillors are supposed to have their questions answered before they come to the council meetings? Instead of taking up everybody's time in the meetings asking for hundreds of points to be clarified?

Anonymous said...

Evelyn is correct about the Treasurer.

Section 286 of Municipal Act states "A Municipality shall appoint a Treasurer", AND Section 5(1) states "The powers of a municipality shall be exercised by its Council".

I'm not a lawyer - but these two statements tell me that only Council has the authority to appoint a Treasurer, not a CAO and certainly not a Mayor acting unilaterally.

The only "authority" I can think of that may take a call is the office of the Minister of Municipal Affairs. This is their website:
http://www.mah.gov.on.ca

Anonymous said...

This is not the only example where the CAO has acted without the authority of Council. I'm not fond of the new CAO, nor do I trust him.

I see you're having difficulties with the Town Clerk and the Town Solicitor. From this I conclude the skill set that the CAO lacks is not restricted to him only. The same situation seems to exist with some of his other staff and in my opinion they are equally inept.

You asked if the CAO's decision was legal? And the new Town Solicitor said he can only answer questions on a resolution of Council. Let's assume it's not legal, but the "Council" never poses the question, I can only conclude that he would never advise the Council that the business of the Town is not carried out as the law of the land requires.

In won't be long before the Council, where the ultimate responsibility lies, will be held legally responsible for the unauthorized actions of staff. This is not the kind of lawyer I want working for me when that goes down.

PS If he didn't answer your question, you probably already know the answer.

Anonymous said...

And so what authorities can be called in to investigate?