Come to think of it, apologies are in order
The Niagara Regional Police services board has recently become an object of ridicule.
OK, that’s probably not fair.
Let’s try it again.
The actions of Niagara Regional Police services board chairman Bob Gale have recently become an object of ridicule.
There. That’s better.
True, the board itself has come under fire the past few weeks for its bad budgeting and agreeing to a juicy retirement package for former chief Jeff McGuire.
These things happen, though. It isn’t easy controlling police costs in a binding salary arbitration world, and deep discord can develop between a board and a chief.
That said, it’s not unreasonable to believe this board was far too eager to earn political brownie points by freezing the 2016 budget, an avoidable action that has had serious negative consequences. And given the size of McGuire’s payout, one might have hoped the board could have made a better effort to get along with him.
How one views the above matters is the stuff of disagreement, potentially serious disagreement. Perhaps, in light of the board’s frequent smug portrayal of itself as a beacon of fiscal prowess, ridicule may come into play, too.
Where Gale crosses the line into indisputable ridicule territory, however, is when he stands up at Niagara regional council and demands an apology from police board critics.
How does this happen? On what planet is Gale living?
Is there no one in his orbit to tell him beforehand this is a very dumb move? Probably not. I get the sense there are several members of regional council who spend a lot of their time telling each other how wonderful they are.
It’s not too late to for Gale to make amends, though, starting with some retroactive apologies.
For instance, when membership of the new board was set in late 2014, Gale asserted: “We have three councillors [ himself, Port Colborne’s David Barrick and St. Catharines’ Andy Petrowski] coming in who are more cost- conscious than you have ever seen.”
This hubris was in evidence when finalizing the 2016 budget with a zero per cent increase.
At the time, Gale supported his board buddy Barrick’s contention that this was a tremendous achievement and would give the board “credibility” at the Region.
“Like member Barrick said, nobody can ever remember it coming in on a zero budget,” said Gale.
But it was smoke and mirrors. The board declined to account for potential cop wage hikes that were the subject of ongoing negotiations and, whenever determined, would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2016. Inflation- rate raises were eventually awarded by an arbitrator and the police services has been fighting to stay out of the red ever since. And this year’s budget is going up 4.5 per cent.
Gale said the 2016 budget freeze was justifiable because the board thought it could negotiate a zero per cent salary hike with the police union. ( See earlier comment re confusion about what planet he lives on.)
We demand an apology.
Then there are his responses to various Petrowski brouhahas.
Early on, he expressed confidence a dispute between Petrowski and McGuire would be resolved because they’re both “mature individuals.”
Later, he dismissed concerns an anti- gay tweet from Petrowski reflected badly on the police board, noting the St. Catharines rep made the remarks as a private citizen.
“We have a right to comment on our own,” said Gale, adding Petrowski has “a track record of doing stuff like that.”
“More power to him.”
And when Petrowski resigned from the board in January 2016, Gale said: “We haven’t always agreed on everything, and most know that Andy and our chief haven’t always seen eye to eye, but I am proud of Andy’s contribution to our board.”
A few months later, though, Petrowski tweeted that McGuire was a “spoiled child” with a too easily bruised ego. This followed an incident where a text message to the chief from Petrowski’s phone stated: “hello clown are you a tyrant?”
The ‘ spoiled child’ comment was too much for Gale.
“It is one thing to be critical; it is another thing to call people names,” he said. “I’m fed up with these shenanigans.”
B- b- but what happened to “more power to him?”
Yeah, an apology would be nice. Or how about when Regional Chair Al Caslin announced within 12 hours of Petrowski resigning — allegedly unexpectedly — that he was appointing himself to the police board.
As chairman, that was his prerogative. But it sure happened quickly, prompting St. Catharines Mayor Sendzik to question the necessity of the quick action, much to Gale’s dismay.
“Sometimes,” huffed Gale, “people just shouldn’t make comments.” Hmm, sense a pattern here? Apologize, please.