"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 14 January 2014

Smoke and Mirrors and Barbecue Sauce

Years ago, when Sterling Drug was  located in Aurora, there was a union strike that went on for some time.

The town was less than ten thousand. Most of the employees were Aurora residents.

The Aurora Banner  sought anddained an interview with a management spokesperson.

I remember a  quote from the story , only one, but it stands out stark and clear in my memory.

 The VIP told the newspaper;  "We could teach monkeys to do what they do"

I thought; " whatever you have learned mister, you have acquired  no judgement whatsoever.

Comments  on remuneration yesterday were interesting.

I  think judgement is an essential quality of management. It's what we pay for. If it's not there, we are not getting value .

A comment  suggests to  determine he going rate for the job  is how to decide on appropriate remuneration is to

It's  the constant measurement used.

On Saturday's budget discussion it was noted the IT department had asked for a  trainer position. The request was denied. Suggestion made t seek to share a  trainer with  the Town of Newmarket.

At an OMA conference a couple  of years ago,I attended  a  workshop on the Work Asset
Management  System aka WAMS.

Municipalities in Ontario are having  considerable difficulty implementing the system.

In November 2011, Aurora bought a  WAMS software program at a cost of $440,000. The IT department were neither consulted nor informed.

The next audit produced a management letter indicating  problems in the treasury department linked to a lack of training and direction for hands on staff.

Since the system was purchased  additional bits and pieces  have been purchased. Council really doesn't know the final tally.

The budget advises of the merits of hand-held devices . Another likely future purchase.

As near as I can determine, field employees are having to come in earlier to input into the computer  the  daily record of tasks accomplished .

It's what  the Work Asset Management  System is about.

Hardly surprising  many municipalities are having difficulty with the concept.They can't all afford to spend  money on a consultant to recommend the purchase of a $440,000 soft-ware program and wait two years for it to  be "up and running"

Ontario has 440 municipalities. Not all  GTA. Not all collecting billions in extortion money from builders of homes and  spending willy-nilly on luxuries and toys  and airy-fairy entrepreneur schemes never dreamed of  when  it was clear and transparent who was footing the bill.

And poor judgement  in decision-making  was equally conspicuous .

Aurora shares fire protection services with the Town of Newmarket. Our water system is connected.

The transit system is Regional.

The Northern Six municipalities  contract garbage collection and insurance coverage.

Now it's suggested  an IT trainer  might be shared with the Town of Newmarket.

Consultants are retained to tell us what to do next and eliminate a position  to save money. Which was promptly done without time to turn around.

So who is accountable?

Did the devil make us do it?

We shift  department responsibilities in  consultant-led   re-organisation  and when it doesn't work, we shift them again.

We take out  membership in a Canadian Institute of Excellence  then we apply for a Bronze Certificate  to  cover ourselves in glory and tell the   nation know how great we art.

In the meantime  good employees are thrown away  like they were so much flotsam.

I hear  at the present time ,Management Team meetings are attended by a conciliator to help the team get along.




6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lovely post, Evelyn
Maybe those meetings should also include that nurse from one of the committees - just in case there is blood-shed

Anonymous said...


It would appear that all levels of government are guilty of forming committees, retaining consultants - planning and engineering and architectural, authorizing studies and analysis groups.

It seems pointless to commit to a computer software program when the people for whom it is intended know nothing about it, its uses and capabilities. An abacus might have been a better investment - certainly less costly.

Aurora has $20,000,000 committed to a joint use facility on faulty ground. Who is to say the cost might not increase by 50%? It is only when it is completed that taxpayers will know the full cost.

Aurora is contemplating a Heritage Park at an estimated cost of $10,000,00. This is the subject of present studies and apparently negotiations authorized by Council to staff to purchase property. Where is the chicken and the egg in all of this?

It only gets worse the higher up the food chain of government that you go. The provincial Liberal government authorized the payment of $1,000,000,000 to cancel contracts for two gas plants. No one is accountable; the present premier has apologized.

The federal government has contracted for helicopters from Sikorsky that will now be ten years late and multi-billions of dollars over original budget.

And trains carrying oil are exploding all over North America because neither the American government or our own were aware of the sensitivity to explosion of the oil that is coming from North Dakota and have no rules on the books for the railway companies.

Anonymous said...

I could see this Council in the first year accepting the words of staff as genuinely well-informed and positive for the town. There is no excuse for still blindly following suggestions that were clearly over the top. The computer system was a perfect example. As was continuing to funnel money to the Centre without insisting on at least a show of them trying to reduce their demands.

Anonymous said...

When you go to the meeting tonight, imagine what the individuals sitting there at this time next year will look like
[ & I know that is not right grammar ]

Anonymous said...

8:30 and still no streaming. Are you OK ?

Anonymous said...

Good Grief ! I just read in the Auroran that the town's communications dept. wants an increase. Surely they cannot be serious !