Vote for new administrator causes friction

A Rural Municipality of Corman Park councillor is crying foul over the way his council colleagues chose a new temporary administrator for the turbulent RM.

Division 6 Coun. Bas Froese-Kooijenga says at a special meeting earlier this month, the RM council ignored its human resources committee’s recommendation for a temporary administrator, choosing to instead hire the RM’s former financial officer. Councillors then voted to replace the committee with four new members.

“It kind of caught us all a little off guard,” FroeseKooijenga said. “It was kind of a gong show, that whole meeting.”

After an argument about whether the meeting should proceed at all, Reeve Mel Henry left, and so did FroeseKooijenga, said the councillor. The vice-chair then stepped in.

Henry says he left because council didn’t follow proper procedures in notifying all members of the special meeting. He believes decisions made at the meeting are not legally binding. He won’t talk about what steps he’s taking next, for legal reasons.

Finding a new temporary administrator was urgent, as the RM’s municipal office has lost seven employees in recent months, including two directors. Lead administrator Judy Douglas went on medical leave earlier this month.

Froese-Kooijenga, who had been on the human resources committee with Henry and councillors Joanne Janzen and Wendy Trask, said they turned to the Ministry of Government Relations for suggestions of candidates who could act as administrator in the short-term. The committee chose consultant Ron Hilton, informed Hilton he had been selected and then forwarded the information to fellow councillors for feedback, Froese-Kooijenga said. Committee members heard nothing from their council colleagues until they stepped into council chambers July 17, where council voted to hire the RM’s former financial officer, Bob Paisley, for 90 days as an administrator, director of planning and public works, and financial officer.

“I thought that was not quite right,” Froese-Kooijenga said. “I wish they would have come to us (saying), ‘We don’t agree with who you want to hire. We want Bob Paisley.’ ”

The committee hadn’t considered Paisley because it wasn’t aware he was qualified or interested in the position, the councillor said.

Froese-Kooijenga, who was first elected to council in February, says he wants an explanation from his colleagues about why they wanted to replace him on the committee.

“Everything seems to come with an agenda,” he said. “If we keep going around and around like this and trying to outdo each other with our political moves, I think we’re not going to be on the same page, and this whole RM is going to continue to slide downhill.”

Coun. John Germs is one of four new appointees to the HR committee, along with councillors Sherry Mervold, Gord Gunoff and chair David Fox.

“IT WAS KIND OF A GONG SHOW, THAT WHOLE

MEETING.”

BAS FROESE-KOOIJENGA

Council opted not to hire Hilton or another candidate the committee had considered because their hourly rates were too expensive, Germs said. Paisley, who has worked for and been a consultant with the RM, is a good fit in the interim, Germs said.

The HR committee is tasked solely with making recommendations — hiring decisions are left to council, Germs said.

Shuffling committee members is a routine part of municipal business, he added.

“Council just found we needed four new faces on the HR committee,” he said.

Councillors want to resolve several outstanding human resources issues, including settlements for at least three administration employees who left on difficult terms, and find closure for several outstanding occupational health and safety complaints, Germs said. One of those OHS complaints was filed by eight employees and councillors, including Germs, alleging harassment by Henry. It has not been resolved.

“It is my personal hope that we can come to some amicable resolution to these dismissals, because I viewed them as valuable employees in the past administration,” Germs said. “These things have to be settled. It’s only fair to them and fair to the ratepayers and so people can move on with their lives.”

Froese-Kooijenga says he understands Germs’ frustration — the administrator and committee were also frustrated with slow-moving legal processes and hired a new lawyer because of it. But no one was stalling the processes on purpose, he says.

He says he also now believes committee members should have been more forthcoming about developments in personnel matters with their fellow councillors.