What's happening with your new council.

Again I would like to thank all those people that supported me through the election. Can't believe it as been three weeks since the election already.

Just an update on what as happened so far some issues we have talked about previously and some new one's. On Oct 29th we were sworn in to office and we divided up the committee's, not everybody got everything they wanted but I think council did a fairly good job of splitting up the work load and we all agreed that if somewhere down the road members of council wish to move around we would look at that.
At the meeting of the 29th I also made a motion for administration to bring back information for council on the following questions:

1. Provide Council with the complete MCNP budget. Including all GL accounts, and including Municipal Reserves.

2.         2. Provide Council with all Administration employment contracts along with their job descriptions for each and evaluations for the last two years.

3. Provide Council with all CUPE job descriptions.

4. Provide Council with an update on all outstanding CUPE grievances.

5. Provide Council with a list of all ongoing litigation and legal issues currently facing the Municipality and all legal advice, if any, which was provided to the municipality on these subjects.

6.         6. Provide Council with an update on the Wolfstone development and RV Park project, including any legal opinions and possible solutions.

7.         7. Provide Council with an update on the Provincial Flood Recovery Program and what monies have been received and how they have been dispersed.     

At that point administration asked to have until the Nov 19 meeting to bring forth this information which council was fine with, recognizing this is a substantial amount of information. So I look forward to seeing the answers next week.  

            Now to the meeting of November 5, some highlights for me: (you can access council packages and minutes at the following address)

            http://www.crowsnestpass.com/municipal-government/council/council-packages-and-minutes 

            Financial Update: 

            I was very surprised to see that almost $1.3 million is owed in back taxes, we were told that the high penalties on arrears would solve this problem.

            We have a lot of money in the bank most of which is grant money that as not been spent because most of our capital budget have not been completed (Out of a projected $6.2 million, just under $1 million was completed as of Oct 30,2013.

            Was surprised to see that our latest study (Recreation Feasibility) is costing us $90,000.

            Also $96,000 as already been spent on the Entrance signs. I am looking forward to receiving a lot more financial information over the next few months. 

           Next big item on the agenda was the hiring of an HR Administrator: It is no secret that the labor relations at the municipality are the worse they have ever been, and I believe this council fully understands the importance of fixing this situation. For years the municipality had good relations with CUPE. So on Nov 5 we are asked to fix the legacy issue of poor labor relations by the CAO by approving the filling of this position. Council had a number of concerns first of all the size of our administration was an issue both prior and during the election. (Just as the meeting started we were introduced to our new Director of Protective and Community Services). We must keep in mind that the organization chart for the municipality was the previous council's chart based on their priorities and desires not this council's. Second council was concerned as to how we were going to pay for this position, administration told us there was money in the budget to cover the position until the end of the year. What happens in 2014? the response was we will find the money in the budget, who hires somebody in November and then figures out how you pay for them later? Last issue administrations position was that a big part of the reason this position was justified was due to the recent Workplace Assessment that was jointly conducted by management and CUPE, council was not supplied with the original copy of this report.

            Update on the Disaster Recovery program we have received $1.8 million so far from the province our Public Works Dept and Engineering firm have determined that the cost of fixing all the eligible damage is around $4.3 million. They explained the process of bureaucratic red tape that the municipality as to go through, the Mayor explained that he as met other communities leaders where work as already begun and we are sitting in a position of not seeing anything done until the spring. We anticipate that administration will be updating us on a regular basis on this very important issue.

           Council meeting schedules, it was agreed that council meeting will be held the first and third Tuesday of each month, with the G+P being held on the second Tuesday of each month all meeting starting at 7pm.

           Very important issue of note the SSRP (South Saskatchewan Regional Plan) if you are interested there is an open house in Pincher Creek on Nov 26 from 4:30 to 7:30 at the community hall, plus you can access the plan and provide input right up to Jan 15 at the following address. https://landuse.alberta.ca/RegionalPlans/SouthSaskatchewanRegion/Pages/default.aspx

            Finally we as council were informed by Mr Myron Thompson during the In Camera portion of our meeting that he would be retiring from his position as CAO with his last day of work being Dec 20th, with his vacation and time off owed he will paid by the municipality until Feb 5th. 

           This announcement though surprising will allow both parties to pursue other options moving forward. 

          Finally I appreciate the encouragement and the positive attitude being shown to me by the public almost every where I go. There are a lot of questions being asked by both the public and council, there is a lot of information gathering on the part of your new council. Let's keep in mind that six members of this new council have never sat on a council previously. Personally I am very hopeful I think the public made some very good choices, I think we have a group of people that are very intelligent, respectful of the community and will work very well together. Will we all be on the same page all the time? not a chance, on Nov 5 we did not finish the public part of the meeting until 10pm. It's been a long time since I have seen that, lot's of good healthy debate. 

     

  

L

S

Who's in control? Agenda Committee

The more things change the more they stay the same.

Politics and the control of councils, during my two terms on council it became very apparent to me that the Mayor set the agenda, not an easy process unless you have willing participants. How did he do it? Simple he set up three committee’s, Corporate Services, Operational Services and Community Development. When an issue regarding a particular subject for example, a development it would go in front of the corporate services, a problem with infrastructure in front of Operational services and so on.

Very quickly it became apparent what was going on each of these boards were made up of the Mayor and two councilors appointed by the Mayor, so of course he would always appoint one councilor that towed the line to each committee. In reality these committee’s became a screening process so the Mayor could control what issues did and did not come to Council. When George Cuff came in and did his organizational review he made the following recommendation.

8. Eliminate the Standing Committees of Council

a) We recommend that the Council pass a resolution (which we will draft) to

rescind the resolution creating the three standing committees. We recommend

that the Council do so immediately.

b) We recommend that the Council create by resolution a Committee of the

Whole hereafter known as the “Governance and Priorities Committee” of

Council (GPC).

c) We recommend that the Council follow the terms of reference which we will

draft and that the CAO review/edit these as the need arises.

Council agreed to this change and it changed the way Council did business for the better, after this change all issues came to council without being screened.

Now according to Councilor Saje’s letter released today we have gone back in time, items that councilors wish to put on agenda’s are not being placed there. I have seen a number of times where somebody as tried to bring something up, the Mayor’s asked if the issue was given to the “AGENDA COMMITTEE” well was I ever shocked to read Councilor Saje’s letter and see that the “AGENDA COMMITTEE” is made up of??? The Mayor and the CAO this is even more blatant control than when I was on council.

Take a look at the real results of this last weekend and do something

At the following address is a blog created by a fellow named Mike Gerrie.
I want everyboby to look at these picture and tell me what a success the weekend was.

Also I look forward very much to hearing more about his discussion with Councilor Gallant.


http://nothunder.blogspot.ca/


I would also encourage everybody to contact our CAO at cao@crowsnestpass.com  to demand that the Municipality immediatly provide to the public the financial results for this weekend.

“If you build it, they will come” Field of Dreams 1989

Well our Council built it, not a Field of Dreams like in the movie but a structure a bureaucracy comprised of a CAO with three Directors under him with each one of those having a Manager reporting to them. Seven high paid administrative positions to look after a workforce of barely fifty people and run a town with a declining tax base and population.

Well just like the movie we built it and they came, we just can not seem to keep them. Let’s go through the list:

June 2011 CAO Tully Clifford leaves.

July 2011 Director of HR and legislative services Lynne Cox leaves.

September 2011 Director of Community Services Cam Mertz leaves.

April 2012 Fire Chief Ken Brands leaves.

June 2012 Manager of Operations Bob Schulz leaves.

July 2012  Manager of Corporate Services Mariann Martens leaves.  

This does not include the Manager of Operations that was hired prior to Mr Schulz who was suppose to show up on a Monday and never did.  

Sprinkle in there some expensive replacements from Transitional Solutions, Councilor Saindon stated at the last town forum the municipality had senior positions vacant for a period of 31 months combined.

It’s fine to propose “change” but is this what they were really talking about, large amounts of turn over in an organization usually indicates that there are much bigger problems. If anybody wants to argue that isn’t the case, then somebody sure made some poor choices when they hired these people five of the people above were here for less than a year. Either way there is a problem.  

Yes I realize that people come and go and sometimes for the betterment of an organization changes must be made but this many in the span of one year? 

Does the right hand know what the left is doing?

Interesting story in the Crowsnest Promoter this week "Municipality appeals controversial development" available at http://www.crowsnestpasspromoter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3385896

Now we have entered the dawn of the new era in the Crowsnest Pass where policies and procedures set the way that business is done.
This story makes one ask many questions the subdivision board makes a decision that is unanimously passed with two members of council sitting on that board.
The CAO had discussions with members of council and had their support did this include the two councilors that sat on this board, does that include the member of council that sits on the appeal board if not then to have a majority it means every other member of council supports him?
What position will the SDB and its members take at the appeal board?
Why was the applicant not told to rezone?
The proposed development is not compatible with the present downtown commercial businesses in the immediate area?
The municipality also has concerns that the proposed development is inappropriate from a planning standpoint?
Why were these issues not raised by administration or the two councilors at the SDB?

Its going to take quite a policy to ensure that this never happens again

New CAO announced in the Crowsnest Pass

Tonight prior to the start of the Council Meeting Mayor Decoux announced that Myron Thompson Director of Public Works accepted the position of CAO.

More to follow.

Breaking News in the Crowsnest Pass-More change

Director of Community Services Cam Mertz is no longer employed with the Municipality.

First in June the CAO Tully Clifford left the municpality.

Then in July Director of HR and Legislative Services Lynne Cox left the municipality.

Now the Director of Community Services.

Interesting Poll results, New CAO when?

I asked the following question:

Should the municipality spend the additional tax dollars to send all members of council to conventions?


Not surprisingly out of 39 people that took a moment to vote a solid 76% agreed with the arguments presented on my previous post regarding the issue of the Convention attendance policy.
While there is no question that there is "some" value to sending some members of council to these events there is no question that the odd meeting can be set up with the right people, also no question that some of the education sessions are of value. But it does not take 8-9 people to take notes in a education session or pick up relevant literature and it does not take 8-9 voices to represent the municipalities interests in those meetings. Has a former Mayor told me at my first convention they are a nice perk for councils and CAO's but not at a cost of $30,000 per year!

My next poll is regarding the search for a CAO, last year when we went through the debate about hiring a new CAO, the minority on council were adamant that it should have been left for the next council to fill the position, I and some of my fellow councilors disagreed stating that there would not be enough time for a new council to be placed in office and find a CAO in time to deal with the budget process 2 months. Of course the minority of council felt that was an ample time.

Based on that debate and considering the last CAO gave his notice on May 19th, pleased take a moment to address my new poll which asks the simple question are you surprised that a permanent CAO as not been found three and a half months after giving his notice?  

Crowsnest Pass CAO Update

On John Prince's blog there is a further update on this situation.

http://blog.johnprince.ca/2011/05/councillor-gallant-appeals-to-residents.html

Change in the Crowsnest Pass, CAO is leaving Wow

Resignation

Note: Check out the following article pointed out to me by one of my readers.

www.crowsnestpasspromoter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2860758

There is more available from this reader/commenter just go down to the right side of my blog and click on the Miners Journey.



The purpose of this email is to let you know I’ve submitted my resignation to Council, my last day of work in Crowsnest Pass will be June 15, 2011. Though my time here has been short I’ve really enjoyed working with all employees. It’s difficult working for local government as we are criticized often and praised seldom. Please know that I appreciate your efforts and acknowledge that Crowsnest Pass could not survive without the fine work of the employees of the Municipality. I’m glad that so many of you recognize that we’re working for our friends and neighbours and that you come to work each day to perform your duties to the best of your ability. Because of your efforts the Municipality offers a very wide range of services and programs to our residents and businesses. Though Council speaks of change you should be proud of your day-to-day work and all your accomplishments and not view change as a negative. Change is difficult and is often seen as a criticism. I challenge you instead to look at change as an opportunity to make a good organization even better. Through change it is hoped that additional opportunities for growth and advancement will be made available to employees and that Crowsnest Pass will continue to evolve as a fantastic place to live and visit. Thank you for working with me during my short time here.



Tully

Waiving of Fees for groups in the Crowsnest Pass

I have now received a comment on my blog and a couple of emails, regarding the potential waiving of ice fees for the proposed Pee Wee provincial tournament in late March.
The question being asked is how do other groups go about this?
There is a policy in place regarding this issue, for the Rec and Culture board to recommend waiving of fees.
This group went straight to council, with the reason given to council that they were working with tight time frames.
So what should other groups do?
Two choices apply to the culture and rec board go in front of them explain your reasons for your request, whether it be financial hardship, special event, etc.
Or send a letter to the CAO requesting that you go straight in front of council and let them address it, put together a bit of a presentation, always wise to suggest during your presentation that you will be bringing people into town, putting the community on the map, and giving something back.
For example Minor Hockey is going to make a contribution to the netting at the Complex.
Don't be afraid to lobby a couple of councilors prior to your presentation it helps, call the municipal office they will give you the councilors phone numbers.

The likely hood of success? I do not know it worked for this group give it a try, there are a lot of groups in our community that are struggling financially I'm sure would be glad for the assistance

Issues in the Crowsnest Pass

I would like to take a few moments to address some issues raised by one of my fellow bloggers, who recently declared his candidacy for the Mayors position in the Crowsnest Pass.
Some of the issues raised I agree with and some I obviously will not. But I will address each one of them the best I can.

Municipal Shell Game-Finances
Infrastructure Grants were committed to the municipality, administration argued that these projects needed to be completed last year and this. I felt we should have waited until we received the grant monies first and then did the projects. We moved ahead both years with full knowledge that the grant money was on the way, but the projects would be complete possibly prior to the money arriving, contractors had to be paid. So last year we approved a bylaw to borrow up to $1.9 million, (this was never used) and this year we approved a bylaw to borrow up to $2.6 million. If the federal and provincial government come through in a timely fashion our usage of this money should be similar to last year.
This also refers back to the need I have raised again and again for five years of building our reserves, if we had decent reserve levels we would not find ourselves in this position.

Affordable Housing
A study was done and at that time affordable housing was shown to be very necessary for our community due to a shortage of affordable accommodation, then the recession happened and the availability of rental accommodation at more affordable pricing became greater.
But there is no question that not too far down the road this will be an issue again, the municipality would have to partner up with the Feds, Province and developers to make this happen because we do not have the cash, but we do have suitable land available. This is what as happened in other communities the municipalities supply the land the two levels of government financial assistance and the developers build the homes.

Public Transportation
Important issue but one that comes with it great cost, there is nowhere that I am aware of where public transportation pays for itself. Our present town rounder is subsidized to the tune of roughly $120,000 a year. To run for 40 hours a week that works out to about $60 per hour that the taxpayer subsidizes that service. Its only a matter of money we could double the availabilty but it would likewise double the cost.

Community Centre Including an Indoor Pool
Should we go after federal and provincial dollars for this type of project, of course but this is something that will take time and a lot of money to happen, future council will have to get very creative to achieve this goal.

Local Businesses
Every election I have heard people stand up and talk about attracting business here, nobody every talks about "how". We have to make this community as attractive as possible from a visual point of view and the cost factor (taxes) to attract people here and sell what we have (proximity to the mines, and cities and one of the most beautiful places to live in the world).
Anyway I know it makes good propaganda to slam the local council for the loss of business, but to expect us to shoulder the blame for a national chain going bankrupt? for companies making the decision to move out of rural areas? and for other businesses closing due to unfortunate circumstances, how could any of those be councils fault.
Reality in the Crowsnest Pass is that we have a very mobile population, 40% of our home owners are week enders who have the opportunity to shop else where, another 25% work at the mines and have four days off every week to go shop out of town.
Its tough to have a business here that can compete with the big box stores out of town.
What always interests me is when you see some of the strongest proponents of shopping locally in Costco or Walmart.

River Run
Big investigation go ahead, from a municipal point of view the mistake we made was not having security in place. Some Council members asked for this again and again and was told by our administration and our leader that it would be provided at the required time.
We all know where we are at today. Personally I will never vote for a development again unless there is security in place prior to the project starting.
Should our Mayor have been involved in promoting this developer? should an employer of the developer been on council? the Mayor told us it was not a conflict and the councilor excused himself when an issue with the developer came up.
This was a private acquisition of a private piece of property, funded by people that choice to invest their money. I think this is between the developers, the investors and a whole bunch of lawyers.

Silence of other candidates
Obviously I can only speak for myself, every candidate that runs for office as some kind of strategic plan for their campaign. I will announce what I am doing at the time that works best for my plan. The election will decide who is right and who is wrong. (But I am running, just have not decided for which position)

Full Time Mayor
Over the years the present Mayor as been accused of micro manging the municipality, which was confirmed by George Cuff when he recommended that the Mayor no longer attend management meeting.
I can not find a rural community of our size that as a full time Mayor, how much would we pay a full time Mayor?, we have some people that feel that council members should do their job for no remuneration. Its suggested that we take some of the funding away from our CAO and use it to pay for a Mayor, if you think you are going to attract a CAO here for $60-70 000 a year good luck, go look at what other small communities pay their CAO's its part of public record.
We need to have good strong administration that will provide sound unbiased apolitical information to the council so they can make informed decisions

Hiring of a CAO
Interesting to hear our Mayor talk about how this council should not hire the next CAO, our present CAO started in August of 2004 the election took place in October of 2004.
When we received the Cuff report it revealed to us that our present CAO would be retiring at the end of 2010. The election takes place on October 18 2010, new council will not meet until the first Tuesday in November, anybody that as sat on council knows that the first meeting is about swearing everybody in, saying hello, having councils picture taken for the web site, appointing members to various committees and a light agenda.
The real work starts at the second council meeting in November leaving a period of six weeks prior to the CAO's retirement to make a decision, at that same time council is slammed with the 2011 budget, and a group of administrators that are all very eager to justify why their departments need more money.
This would not be such a big deal if you had an experienced council making the decisions, but what if you have a lot of new faces around the table? what if you had a strong Mayor that took advantage of the newness of his council to take advantage and pick his man for the position? (I know that as never happened here but I am sure it as elsewhere)

Local Media-Bias
I cannot imagine what my fellow blogger is referring to, in the Crowsnest Pass!
I like wise believed that the job of the media is to report the news, I could ramble on for hours about this issue buts whats the point.

Anyway there are a few comments about issues in the Crowsnest Pass.