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  #41  
Old Posted Dec 22, 2017, 2:04 PM
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Once again, Watson keeps his promise of capping the property tax hike to 2%, thanks to a $10 million surplus appearing out of thin air moments before the council meeting.

What the City's not advertising is that everything else is going up by a much higher rate;

4% Water rates;
5% Sewer surcharge;
5% Stromwater fee;
2.5% Regular transit fares;
5.6% Ice-time fees

Source: Ottawa Citizen, Unexpected $10M defuses council clash, Matthew Pearson, December 14, 2017
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  #42  
Old Posted Dec 22, 2017, 2:30 PM
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Originally Posted by J.OT13 View Post
Once again, Watson keeps his promise of capping the property tax hike to 2%, thanks to a $10 million surplus appearing out of thin air moments before the council meeting.

What the City's not advertising is that everything else is going up by a much higher rate;

4% Water rates;
5% Sewer surcharge;
5% Stromwater fee;
2.5% Regular transit fares;
5.6% Ice-time fees

Source: Ottawa Citizen, Unexpected $10M defuses council clash, Matthew Pearson, December 14, 2017
Why let facts get in the way of a good news story
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  #43  
Old Posted Jan 10, 2018, 6:14 PM
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Security bollards to be installed outside of city hall after risk assessment

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: January 9, 2018 | Last Updated: January 9, 2018 5:13 PM EST


Ottawa City Hall needs security bollards around the building in case a terrorist tries to use a vehicle to run over people, the city’s security boss says.

“With all the stuff going on in the world and the low-tech terrorism that has taken place, it really behooves the city to ensure the safety and security of patrons to city hall,” said Pierre Poirier, manager of security and emergency management.

“We’ve taken a look at what is the probability of that kind of event happening and it really is important for us to take some measures to secure, first and foremost, Marion Dewar Plaza.”

Marion Dewar Plaza, which is the festival space on the Laurier Avenue side of city hall, will be the first part of the property to get new bollards this year.

The city is also looking into plantings and stones to complement the security bollards and maintain a decent aesthetic on the traditional public face of city hall.

There are some bollards around the city hall property already, but they don’t have the appropriate security rating and they’re too far apart, Poirier said.

“We have to do a lot more,” he said in an interview.

Later this year the city will look into protective bollards on the Lisgar Street side of city hall and measures on the western and eastern sides of the property.

But the top priority is installing barriers around Marion Dewar Plaza, where festivals and special events happen.

“That is first and foremost the greatest risk to the greatest number of people. Our assessment said if you have 10,000 people there congregated for the marathon weekend, that is a significant risk,” Poirier said.

“For the most part, what we have been doing over the past year is we’ve been putting jersey barriers in place, but that is really a temporary solution.”

There have been several deadly attacks using vehicles around the world, prompting event planners to bring in concrete barriers and even dump trucks to block access points.

The City of Ottawa completed a security study on the exterior of city hall, following a 2014 risk study that mostly scrutinized the interior of the building.

“(As the world has changed) in the last few years, it was appropriate for us to revisit security of the facility, to do an appropriate risk assessment, and then try to mitigate those risks in the best way possible,” Poirier said.

Bollards, which are short posts, are common security barriers that still allow pedestrian movement. They are installed on Parliament Hill and outside the prime minister’s office.

At Marion Dewar Plaza, the city is looking to use a mix of fixed, retractable and removable bollards, between 30-40 bollards in total.

Poirier wouldn’t estimate how much the new security features will cost, since the city is currently receiving bids.

The city still needs to provide some motorized access to the plaza, since festivals require vehicles to transport gear. With the new bollards, the plan is to restrict access to an entry near the neighbouring drill hall and possibly a secondary access at the front of the plaza.

“Really, we’re looking at the perimeter and securing the perimeter and having a positive aesthetic so that it doesn’t look like it’s a fort,” Poirier said.

He anticipates receiving feedback from a landscape architect.

It might be seen as ironic to tighten security outside city hall in the year following the Ottawa 2017 events, but Poirier said the city had temporary measures in place last year.

Poirier said he started work on permanent security infrastructure last year and had hoped to have it done by November.

But, this being Ottawa, the city had to clear new security measures along Laurier Avenue with the National Capital Commission to make sure they wouldn’t sully the landscape.

Other security measures being implemented are simple policy changes. For example, the city will no longer allow festival organizers to store large propane cylinders under the building overhang near Marion Dewar Plaza, Poirier said.

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http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...isk-assessment
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  #44  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2018, 1:31 AM
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The politics behind Ottawa Mayor Watson's latest cabinet picks

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: December 11, 2018


Mayor Jim Watson has chosen a cabinet of clear allies, while strong-arming those who could present the biggest challenge to his four-year agenda and political future.

The result may be a sharper wedge between inner-urban councillors and the rest of council.

The city’s committees, subcommittees and council appointments all took shape Tuesday at a meeting of the nomination committee. A survey distributed to councillors last week allowed them to state their preferences; and the mayor brought his proposed slate to the committee, which votes and sends the list to council for final approval.

The elephant in the room Tuesday quickly emerged as the lack of urban representation on arguably the most important council committee: the Watson-chaired finance and economic development committee. That’s the committee tasked with major policy oversight for things such as LRT planning, corporate finance and real estate.

Not a single downtown-area councillor will sit on the finance committee if the proposed membership passes at council meeting Wednesday. In fact, of the 11 proposed members of the finance committee to sit with Watson, nine members are either rural or suburban councillors.

The addition of a third deputy mayor this term, has created a near-majority rule on council for Watson.

Deputy mayors and standing committee chairs get automatic seats on the finance committee. There are five standing committee chairs, one transit commission chair, three deputy mayors, the mayor and an at-large member proposed by Watson.

This, as Watson knows, is city hall governance in a nutshell: If you control the finance committee, you control much of what council does. The 12 votes of the finance committee plus one more guarantees victory, and it’s not hard to find and butter up that one additional councillor to win the day.

There were already rumblings on councillors’ row Tuesday that some will try to change the makeup of the finance committee before the end of Wednesday’s council meeting, potentially setting the stage for a battle with the mayor and his loyalists.
Watson had the option to let at least one inner-urban councillor sit on the finance committee by using the “at large” seat. Instead, he wants Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney to take the seat and be his right-hand man as vice-chair of the committee.

Despite facing a charge under provincial election law, Tierney doesn’t appear to be losing any sway when it comes to Watson’s inner circle.

Tierney is poised to keep is role as the head of the Ottawa Public Library board of trustees and his vice-chair role on planning committee. On top of that, Watson wants Tierney to continue representing the city at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Tierney, who won re-election in a landslide victory in October, is charged under the Ontario Municipal Elections Act with corrupt practice related to the recent campaign. He has maintained his innocence and has vowed to fight the charge.

It’s never easy to put together rosters for committees. Gender, geography and expertise are factors in deciding who gets what seat.

The mayor has also been faced with more pressure to achieve, as close as is possible, gender parity on council committees and boards. Council is still drastically under-represented when it comes to women, who hold seven of 24 seats this term, and Watson has had to contemplate equal distribution while not overloading some councillors with piles of committee work.

At the same time, Watson has made sly plays to keep more of his chief opponents on the sidelines of big city hall files.

Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans will have a high-profile role as the police service board chair, but she won’t be on the finance committee, which last term heard her raise questions about LRT construction, budgeting and planning.

Then there’s council’s journeyman, College Coun. Rick Chiarelli. He doesn’t have a chair job. The closest thing to it is his vice-chair role on information-technology subcommittee. In fact, Chiarelli, despite his years of experience in municipal governance, is pencilled in for just one standing committee, the planning committee.

But the most glaring snub must be against Rideau-Rockcliffe Tobi Nussbaum, a second-term councillor who — as a bilingual, Harvard-educated diplomat with management experience — has been eyed inside city hall as a potential challenger for the mayor’s job one day.

Watson has nearly removed Nussbaum from any major decision-making at the committee level. Yes, Nussbaum is being asked to chair the low-profile Ottawa Community Lands Development Corp., but the only standing committee of which Nussbaum would be a member for four years is environment committee.

It’s a bonus if Nussbaum doesn’t want to fill his agenda with committee meetings, but it’s bad news if he wants the chance to shape municipal policy across multiple departments.

Other downtown-area councillors have various roles, but nothing that’s quite agenda-setting at council.

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury will continue chairing the Ottawa Community Housing board and take over as council’s sports commissioner.
Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper is being handed the chair’s job for the information-technology subcommittee, which can’t make any decisions without having its hand held by the finance committee.
Capital Coun. Shawn Menard is being tapped to vice-chair environment committee, behind the more Watson-safe chair pick, Rideau-Goulbourn Coun. Scott Moffatt.
Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney, the downtown councillor with the most corporate history at as a staffer and now a councillor, will likely embrace her role as council’s housing and homelessness liaison, but it’s only an effective job if she’s given the latitude to lobby colleagues for more affordable housing. Working in her favour, however, are proposed appointments to the Ottawa Community Housing board of directors and community and protective services committee, which oversees housing programs and social services.

One rookie councillor will get a shot at chairing a standing committee and two will get the prestige of being deputy mayors.

Kanata North Coun. Jenna Sudds is being asked to run the community and protective services committee, while Innes Coun. Laura Dudas and Orléans Coun. Matthew Luloff are poised to be deputy mayors, along with Osgoode Coun. George Darouze.

As for Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Carol Anne Meehan — perhaps the member with the highest profile, rivalling the mayor’s given her years anchoring the local CTV news — she’ll be riding shotgun on audit committee, taking the vice-chair seat alongside the chair, Alta Vista Coun. Jean Cloutier.

It’s a council that could see greater division over the next four years, but Watson has crafted his leadership group with political precision, knowing full well who he needs onside to push through his agenda, potentially lighting a path for another run in 2022.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...net-of-council
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  #45  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2018, 2:28 AM
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How the hell is Tim Tierney have any role?
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  #46  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2018, 1:24 PM
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How the hell is Tim Tierney have any role?
He must be one of Watson's bobbleheads.

Hubley as transit commissioner ????
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  #47  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2018, 2:15 PM
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How the hell is Tim Tierney have any role?
If Tierney had any ethics he'd recuse himself from any role for now.
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  #48  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2018, 3:05 PM
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This looks like a Mayor on his last term who's stacking the deck in his favour for the next four years.

There are many questionable appointments this time around, Hubley and Tierney are up there. The Deputy Mayors, Watson's buddy Darouze and the two new Orleans Councillors he believes he can mold into minions. Very lopsided to the rural-suburban east end.

The urban Councillors were given just about nothing.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...ules-1.4941296
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  #49  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2018, 3:19 PM
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CBC's Kate Porter and Chianello live tweeting council meeting. Porter listing the board members and ranked choices of the ones who got it and wanted it. Further proof of jerry-rigging from Watson.

McKenney is pissed.

https://twitter.com/KatePorterCBC
https://twitter.com/jchianello?ref_s...Ctwgr%5Eauthor
https://twitter.com/JonathanWilling
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  #50  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2018, 3:41 PM
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Leiper had a motion to add Menard and Brockington to the planning committee because they wasn't enough urban representation. Watson opposed, naturally and El-Chantiry came to Watson's defense saying that Councillors represent the entire City. Leiper's motion was voted down. Here's how it west:


https://twitter.com/KatePorterCBC/st...77739802152960

Interesting is it not? They all represent the entire City?

Of note, Watson added Blais at the last minute because he "forgot" to add him to the list yesterday. That past of course.
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  #51  
Old Posted Dec 13, 2018, 3:22 AM
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Councillors are being told to shut their traps: Brockington

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: December 12, 2018


Shut your trap if you want to get anywhere on city council.

That, according to River Coun. Riley Brockington, is life for municipal politicians in Mayor Jim Watson’s city hall.

Brockington, a second-term councillor, aired some of the dirty laundry after council on Wednesday voted on the membership of committees and board and appointed leaders.

“This is more about building an insulated coalition to ensure that there isn’t the type of debate and discussion that we need to see here,” Brockington said.

“I’ve been told repeatedly by colleagues that I ask too many questions in public, that I should ask my questions in private, and the day I do that I will resign from council. I will continue to ask questions in public.”

Brockington, who wanted to sit on the planning and transportation committees and chair the environment committee but received none of those assignments, said he’s a “team player” and will serve on whichever committee directed by council.

But he’s disappointed that the mayor, and then council, didn’t vote to allow him and Capital Coun. Shawn Menard sit on planning committee.

Brockington didn’t name who was suggesting he should not ask questions in public, but he characterized the discussions this way: “It was more along the lines of, ‘You keep asking questions and there are going to be consequences to those questions,’ which I think is ridiculous.”

According to Brockington, when it comes to LRT, money issues or debt, there’s “a common theme about don’t ask those questions in public.”

It’s one of the reasons why, in Brockington’s mind, Coun. Diane Deans is being recommended as Police Services Board chair, not only because she’ll bring veteran leadership to the board but also because it means she won’t get a seat on the finance committee, where she has frequently brought up questions on things like LRT construction.

Brockington made the comments after Watson was questioned by reporters about his committee selections.

Asked about Brockington’s comments, the mayor’s spokeswoman, Livia Belcea, said by email, “It is within every member of council’s right to bring questions or concerns forward to city staff and their fellow council colleagues, both at committee and at council.”

Some councillors on Wednesday tried, but ultimately failed, to get more urban influence on the planning committee this term.

It was Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper, who’s on planning committee, who asked council to add Menard and Brockington to the committee, since those two members placed high priority on getting seats. Leiper also noted the committee needs more urban membership to reflect the geography of the city.

Don’t support Leiper’s proposal, Watson recommended to colleagues, but the mayor won support to add Cumberland Coun. Stephen Blais to the planning committee.

A 15-9 vote meant Watson’s picks for chairs, plus the membership of committees and boards, with the addition of Blais to the planning committee, were approved. The no votes came from College Coun. Rick Chiarelli, Bay Coun. Theresa Kavanagh, Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney, Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury, Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Tobi Nussbaum, Deans, Leiper, Menard and Brockington.

McKenney skewered the makeup of finance and economic development committee — Watson’s de-facto cabinet, mostly made up of committee chairs and deputy mayors — for not having any inner-urban members and only three women.

“I see this less about representation and more about power,” McKenney said.

Menard slagged Watson for not considering regional representation on committees, especially the finance committee and planning committee.

“I think what happened here today is that the mayor delivered a giant lump of coal for residents living within the greenbelt,” Menard said after the meeting.

Menard criticized the council-approved addition of Blais to the planning committee, a move that was presented as a “technical amendment” by the mayor.

“If you’re an ally, there’s different rules if you’re somebody that actually criticizes the policy we’ve been seeing over the last several years,” Menard said.

Watson said councillors can still attend and ask questions during committees, even if they aren’t members of the committees. He defended his choices for committee and board members and chairs — a “really good package,” he said.

“I feel very confident that we have a really good team of people who will do a lot of heavy lifting over the next four years,” Watson said.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...ps-brockington
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  #52  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2019, 11:36 PM
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LRT Stage 2, red light cameras: 5 things from Mayor Watson's 2019 state of the city address

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: January 30, 2019


Mayor Jim Watson’s annual state of the city address was heavy on tourism and economic development, while revealing small details about what residents can expect from city hall in 2019.

Big year for LRT

With hopes that the first phase of the LRT system will be ready for passengers this spring, council will soon consider who should build the second phase of the electrified rail network.

Watson said council on Feb. 27 will receive the recommendations on procuring the Stage 2 LRT project. All construction related to the Stage 2 project is worth $3.6 billion, with the city paying $1 billion and the other two levels of government splitting the rest of the cost.

The Stage 2 expansion will extend Confederation Line LRT tracks to Trim Road, Algonquin College and Moodie Drive and extend Trillium Line tracks to Riverside South and the Ottawa International Airport. Construction is scheduled to start later this year.

City searching for affordable housing land near transit stations

The city has so far found five publicly owned sites where affordable housing units could be built in close proximity to transit stations, Watson said.

Watson said the planning department will present those sites, which are “prime for development in this term of council,” to councillors this spring. The mayor revealed the site with the highest priority: 557 Albert St., located on LeBreton Flats between Pimisi Station and the future central library.

City cracking down on bad behaviour

The speech gave Watson a chance to reiterate some of his election promises from 2018, including those that could bring in more money for road safety programs.

Watson said the city will install 20 more red light cameras, adding to the 54 cameras across the city. The city is also going ahead with testing photo radar in school zones. The mayor said the city hopes to have the photo radar running by the fall.

Illegal tree cutting is also on Watson’s radar. He wants the province to allow the city to triple the fines to a minimum of $3,000 and a maximum of $300,000.

“No longer will developers or enterprising residents have oops moments and a slap on the wrist after cutting significant trees during construction projects,” Watson said.

More keys from Watson

Former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty will be one of five recipients of the Key to the City in 2019.

McGuinty was first elected as Liberal MPP for Ottawa South in 1990. He was premier between 2003 and 2013. Watson served in McGuinty’s cabinet before becoming mayor.

The other key recipients will be author and lawyer Maureen McTeer, Olympic figure skater Patrick Chan, Cornerstone Housing for Women executive director Sue Garvey, and francophone advocate Ronald Caza.

The five recipients will make it 22 Key to the City awards handed out by Watson since 2012.

City tests technology by local companies

The city is testing new technology developed by local companies.

Watson said the city-run Peter D. Clark long-term care centre will be trying out technology by Safety Labs that protects residents living with dementia from wandering off to unknown locations. The Ottawa-based company has a system that alerts a caregiver when a wireless “tether” breaks between a person requiring attention and a base unit.

A successful test run of a product provided by Key2Access last year has the city looking for technology that helps visually-impaired people navigate intersections. The technology, which helps people activate crosswalk signals, will be part of a reconstructed Elgin Street.

The city is also launching a test track for autonomous vehicles on National Capital Commission property off Woodroffe Avenue.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...e-city-address
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  #53  
Old Posted Apr 8, 2019, 10:20 PM
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The level of incompetence and lack of due diligence displayed in this case is rather shocking.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5141545/o...y-manager/amp/

Last edited by acottawa; Apr 8, 2019 at 10:38 PM.
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  #54  
Old Posted Apr 9, 2019, 1:45 PM
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The level of incompetence and lack of due diligence displayed in this case is rather shocking.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5141545/o...y-manager/amp/
Heard about it this morning, had the same reaction as you. The fact that taxpayer money is handled this loosely is unacceptable. If it wasn't for the US Secret Service, we'd be out a cool $100k USD(and we still may be out a portion of it depending on how much they can recover).
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  #55  
Old Posted Apr 9, 2019, 2:25 PM
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The level of incompetence and lack of due diligence displayed in this case is rather shocking.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5141545/o...y-manager/amp/
It doesn't sound good, but the as I understand it, the treasurer has a very good reputation and almost a 30 year career... I'd hate for any mistake I made at work to cause people to ignore everything else I'd done in my career.
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  #56  
Old Posted Apr 9, 2019, 2:34 PM
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Also worth noting that these scams are sadly quite common and apparently effective:

https://www.pindrop.com/blog/fbi-say...t-2-3-billion/

Quote:
The FBI says it has seen a huge increase in the volume of business email compromise scams hitting enterprises in the last year, and estimates that losses from the scheme have hit $2.3 billion now.
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  #57  
Old Posted Apr 9, 2019, 2:56 PM
Richard Eade Richard Eade is offline
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This $128,000 cost to the City was the mistake of one person. The ‘solution’ that is being put in place will bog-down the process and cost the City a lot more money annually than was lost in this incident. The City has made a knee-jerk reaction to someone’s mistake.

As for the Treasurer, she, and everyone involved, knows that she made a mistake. Although I don’t think that one incident should define her career’s achievements, I await to see how she and the City resolve the problem - that answer will tell us everything we need to know about her.

Will she make the City whole again by taking part of her severance pay* (I believe she is due to retire in a couple of months) to repay the City for her mistake? Or will the City simply write off the loss (since it is ‘only’ tax-payer money, and there is plenty more where that came from) and ignore that someone made a big mistake that cost the City a lot of money?

Historically, I feel that the City has gone the easy route and left the tax-payers on the hook for staff mistakes. I am hoping that the Treasurer has enough personal integrity to make up for her mistake. This is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate that there are consequences to making mistakes; and that people should take responsibility for their actions.

Sure, everyone makes mistakes; but it is how that person corrects the results that is important.

[* And I don’t mean that the City should give her a ‘bonus’ in her severance of $128,000 so that she can sign back over to the City.]
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  #58  
Old Posted Apr 9, 2019, 3:06 PM
TransitZilla TransitZilla is offline
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Originally Posted by Richard Eade View Post
This $128,000 cost to the City was the mistake of one person. The ‘solution’ that is being put in place will bog-down the process and cost the City a lot more money annually than was lost in this incident. The City has made a knee-jerk reaction to someone’s mistake.

As for the Treasurer, she, and everyone involved, knows that she made a mistake. Although I don’t think that one incident should define her career’s achievements, I await to see how she and the City resolve the problem - that answer will tell us everything we need to know about her.

Will she make the City whole again by taking part of her severance pay* (I believe she is due to retire in a couple of months) to repay the City for her mistake? Or will the City simply write off the loss (since it is ‘only’ tax-payer money, and there is plenty more where that came from) and ignore that someone made a big mistake that cost the City a lot of money?

Historically, I feel that the City has gone the easy route and left the tax-payers on the hook for staff mistakes. I am hoping that the Treasurer has enough personal integrity to make up for her mistake. This is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate that there are consequences to making mistakes; and that people should take responsibility for their actions.

Sure, everyone makes mistakes; but it is how that person corrects the results that is important.

[* And I don’t mean that the City should give her a ‘bonus’ in her severance of $128,000 so that she can sign back over to the City.]
I think it is a dangerously slippery slope to expect everyone to be personally liable for mistakes made at work.
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  #59  
Old Posted Apr 9, 2019, 3:44 PM
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Why was there even a system in place where an email from the city manager to the treasurer was considered a normal way to pay an unknown foreign recipient? I could see this happening in a small township where the manager and treasurer are the only employees, but in a large organization with thousands of employees such an arrangement is ridiculous.
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  #60  
Old Posted Apr 9, 2019, 4:03 PM
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Isn't there insurance that deals with this kind of loss? Contractors with the government are often required to have E&O (errors and omissions) insurance.
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