Community TV / The Trash Panda Called It! NO Answers Provided to Mayor Clark!
Many Council Members Are Making This All About Trust
May 6 City Council Meeting YouTube Video The discussion starts at about 57:30 on the video.
After 90 minutes of debate about the Mayor’s Ask on Monday night Council finally agreed they would ask staff for an estimate of how long it would take to fulfill the request as they may need a budget amendment.
NB – Council has a Contingency Fund of $1,000,000 / year. They could easily use this to pay for the information they are entitled to.
1:21:20 In regards to Mayor Clark wanting to compare 2023 with previous years, Councillor Sharps suggested that the Managing Directors could tell them if if it was usual or not.
Unless you have the raw data, that amounts to hearsay and should not be considered. I always bring the receipts, senior City Staff must do the same. It has nothing to do with a lack of trust, it has everything to do with good business practices. How much do you want to bet all of the lower echelons of the city have to provide receipts for all that they do? Why should we not hold the senior staff to the same standards?
Numerous councillors extolled their trust of senior staff.
2:21:00 Councillor Hider actually said ”I do put trust into our city manager and I always will.”
ALWAYS will? Are you kidding me? What exactly has the City Manager done to command that sort of blind trust? That behaviour is not only unbecoming of a Council Member, it is also incredibly naive.
Numerous councillors used the term “sowing seeds of discord and mistrust”.
Councillor Dumanowski had a prepared statement
which was truly shocking
Counciillor Dumanowski appear to glower while Mayor Clark was speaking at the May 6 2024 City Council meeting.
1:22:25 Dumanowski made accusations of an ulterior motive saying things like
- recent request made under guise of transparency starting to sow seeds of discord and mistrust
- accountability and transparency are not mere buzzwords to be used for political or personal gain
- the principles of accountability and transparency are being used to undermine and embarrass management while also exploiting confidential information that SHOULD be safeguarded and audited internally rather than publicly exposed
-….damage inflicted upon our organization and the fractures that have developed within this council table…our community has been on receiving end of mixed rhetoric and divisive maneuvering
- …today’s requests finds itself in direct conflict with transparency… trust and integrity…may be manipulated for personal gain or a political agenda …not only tarnishes the reputation of our organization but erodes the trust of those we serve…
I call Bullshit
The eroding trust of your constituents did not start with this request. I can tell you exactly which day it started on and the progression since then.
August 21 2023 The Shitshow Showdown when 8 members of council rubber-stamped the City Manager bypassing our own bylaw. Many people were shocked and angry.
August 21 2023 - March 2024 Several departures from the City raise eyebrows, rumblings of discord behind the scenes and a Code of Conduct complaint filed, the City stays silent.
March 20 2024 AT 7pm during the Police Commission Meeting, the City posts on the website that a Special Council Meeting is called for the next day at noon. This is less than the required 24 hours notice.
March 21 2024 The Municipal Mutiny when The Mutinous Seven Of Council (TMSOC) impose the most severe sanctions possible on the mayor without putting a clock on it.
March 26 2024 The Kingsgate Report is released but it is so heavily redacted it is pretty much useless. We hear very little of Councillor Sharp’s accusations against Mayor Clark.
March 27 2024 Mayor Clark releases 47 pages, very little was redacted.
April 1 2024 Not an April Fools joke - TMSOC put out a Press Release in an unusual manner trying to defend their decision. It was not received well by the public who were demanding answers and explanations.
NB - until April 5 the public had no idea of what the mayor was asking for.
April 5 2024 The release of the April Council Agenda which finally revealed the Mayor’s Ask which should have been put on the March 4 Agenda. It was also not on the March 18 agenda.
April 8 2024 Council deliberately ran out the clock on addressing the Mayor’s Ask so it was delayed yet again Watch here, it is at the end of the meeting starting at the 4:22:00 mark.
April 11 2024 City Manager Ann Mitchell posts on Linked IN
April 12 2024 Former mayor Ted Clugston did an interview with CHAT News and Medicine Hat News. Here’s my article Monday Morning Musings on the Medicine Hat Municipal Mutiny
April 15 2024 Community TV /The Trash Panda filed a FOIPP for the Mayor’s Ask.
April 22 2024 Council again delaying addressing the Mayor’s Ask. They also removed media from the Media Table, banishing them to the cheap seats in the nosebleed section.
Media Table at Medicine Hat City Hall Council Chambers. Normally three of us sit here, the media table has audio/video hookups as well as access to power.
May 2 2024 Mayor Clark releases the documents she gave to Council Members. Here’s my article called
Gas City Gaslighting of Medicine Hat Mayor Linnsie Clark
May 2 2024 Community TV /The Trash Panda receives notice that the City has filed for an Authorization to Disregard our FOIPP request for the Mayor’s Ask
Mr. Dumanowski
The erosion of trust in Council has nothing to do with the information request. The erosion of trust in Council is completely self-inflicted.
Other councillors were concerned about revealing some of the information. City Manager Ann Mitchell said severance packages were private.
once again, I call Bullshit
The Province of Alberta releases Salary and Severance information for Government of Alberta employees above a certain threshold all the time, including who it was paid to and the details. (Do a search for Councillor Ramona Robins, her name is on that list.)
What is disclosed
Regular salary and earnings, paid in that calendar year.
Cash benefits including earnings such as overtime, vacation payout, northern allowance, vehicle allowance, compensation in lieu of pension and special services compensation.
Non-cash benefits including the employer’s contributions to pension, medical and dental coverage, group life insurance and disability plans.
Contracts of employment.
Severance, which includes payments required by contract or in accordance with the Employment Standards Code when employment ends.
Employees may apply to be exempted from having their compensation disclosed only if this could unduly threaten their safety. There are no other grounds for granting exemptions.
The City of Calgary puts the Compensation Disclosure on their website, easy to find.
AHS does too Compensation Disclosure | Alberta Health Services
As does the U of A Compensation Disclosure List | Human Resources, Health, Safety + Environment
When a person works for a public entity such as a municipality, your compensation package is no longer private. The residents are entitled to know where their money goes.
Predatory employers have been telling their employees for hundreds for years – don’t talk about your salary, it’s private. They only want employees to keep it private so that other employees would not realize how much they were being underpaid.
Our City publishes the Collective Agreements for the unions, we can look up any position and find out how much someone makes as well as the schedule of benefits.
How come we can’t do that for senior management? Is this another case of
Rules for thee but not for me?
It is my opinion that Councillor Dumanowski’s remarks violated Bylaw 4492 the Code of Conduct Bylaw. specifically section 8.3 which says
No Member shall use indecent, abusive, or insulting words or expressions toward another Member, any employee of the Municipality or any member of the public.
Unfortunately the new Code of Conduct Bylaw which would allow the public to file a complaint against a Council Member has yet to be passed.
bring us the receipts!
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