county taxes?

[cowman]

Coppertop: You know as well as I do that there is the "world according to the rules", and then there is the "real world"?
If the reeve says to the CAO "I think you need to reconsider this."...then he is going to give it some considerable thought?...Like maybe, because if he doesn't...he just might get his fingers slapped when the reeve goes in and talks to the old boys club on council? Come on...you know how politics works?
And you also know a councillor can get a whole lot done, behind the scenes, talking to the staff? If a councillor goes to the Ag fieldman and says hey Range Road 22 needs to be sprayed...he isn't going to tell her/him to go to hell, or take that request over to the CAO? And that happens in every department...now maybe it is different in your county...but it sure works that way around here! If I have a problem with a bad road I don't even phone my councillor first...first I phone the contract co-ordinator, if that doesn't work then I phone the councillor...and I know she gives the operations manager a call! She doesn't ask the CAO!
Now without a doubt...the "rules" say that isn't how it should work...but in fact that is just how it does work!!? If everyone went by the "rules" nothing would get done.

[coppertop]

cowman, I used to get phone calls from 5:30 AM to midnight from citizens complaining, asking for information etc. I would advise the caller of the correct department to contact, and if they requested that I take their concern forward I would do so. Contacting the appropriate department head, advising them of the call, and following that up with a call to the CEO, and I would bring it up at the next council meeting in the public portion of the meeting during councillors reports.

At no time, did I give direction or make suggestions to staff or the CEO. If any direction needed to be given it came out of the council meeting after the issue was discussed by council.

On occaision I would receive complaints about county staff, these would be brought forward during an In Private session at the next council meeting with the CEO present. He took it from there, and would report back to council at the next meeting.

I chaired the ASB and would spend at least an hour a week with the Ag Fieldman discussing matters of the department. The Chairman of the ASB has the same powers as the Reeve in agricultural matters under the ASB Act. If I received any complaints from citizens about agricultural matters, I encouraged them to contact the Fieldman, I also conveyed the complaint to him, and then discussed it with the Board at the next meeting.

Anyone who decides that they do not need to govern by the book, is doing it at their own peril, usually councilors that take matters into their own hands end up not treating every issue with consistency and sooner or later the public is going to be the judge and jury. At the first meeting I attended as a member of council a leader in the resource industry came to the meeting to congratulate us on our victories in the election and he commented that he did not want to see his council running graders or telling the graderman which road to grade, but he did expect his council to set a good direction for the municipality by way of policies etc.

[cowman]

Well I'm glad that worked for you!
My own councillor is very much a "hands on" person and it sure seems to work for her as she has been at it for about twenty years and I guess she'll be in there for as long as she wants!
In this division there are two really good grader men and she goes to bat for them at tender time and makes sure they get the tender...lowest price or not! Why? Because we'd probably shoot her if she ever let these two guys go!
Now she did get herself in hot water once when she was the reeve. She tried to cut a deal on some gravel without following the tender process. It was a sweetheart deal/but no delay was possible...but you see she wasn't following the "rules"? The upshot was she got canned as the reeve, some other slick sucker slid in and bought the gravel! He then turned around and won the tender from the county and sold them the gravel for a $1 million dollar profit!
This is what happens when "rules" over ride common sense? You elect people to do the best job they can, and then punish them for managing like any business would! It just shows how dumb the public sector can be. Just my opinion.

[coppertop]

well, obviously your councillor paid the price for not abiding by the rules didn't she ?

Sometines when you are an elected official following the rules of the game don't make a lick of sense, and many people have gotten themselves into a mess by taking matters into their own hands. In the old days, the county councillors used to tell the graders which road to grade, had authority over which roads received gravel etc.

There are still members of the public that expect their councillor to control things, micro manage etc., but most people just want their councillor to take their concerns to the appropriate department and if they don't get results they expect their councillor to take that issue to the rest of council.

[cowman]

Well I don't know how big a price she really paid. At that time the practice was to alternate the reeve job every year and she only had a couple of months left anyway?
However her stock went right up with just about every ratepayer in the county and I would expect if she chose to run for the new elected reeve position she might just do very well! I don't think she intends to though as she is getting pretty long in the tooth?
There are about 5000 actual ratepayers in the county? If she had been able to buy that gravel it would have saved each one $200? Because of the "rules it cost each ratepayer another $200!
Personally I expect my "politicians" to take care of my problems? Otherwise who needs them? Why not just have the beuracracy run the show and post the "complaint line" in the county paper? I mean we are paying these politicians very good money to take care of our problems and manage the resources of the municipality!
At the end of the day the "boss" has to run the show...not the hired staff? And the "boss" is the ratepayer...through his or her elected representative?
The councillor has to be responsible for what happens in the county. If the staff screws up, it is their job to skid them and hire someone who will get the job done. The buck has to stop somewhere...and that is the council!
I like to believe we have good people working on council and generally they are, but they are also human and can make mistakes?
I truly believe a councillor should be a business person who understands how the real world works? Maybe that is why the city of Red Deer is a gongshow...with social workers and museum curators running the show?
Many people have this belief that there needs to be a turnover every so often in any organization...bring in new blood sort of thing? I am not necessarily a great fan of that idea as who knows what you might be getting? The old tried and proven councillor, who knows how the system works, might be a lot more valuable than some untried person? I know it sure works in my division.

[cakadu]

How do you know it works, cowman, if it has never happened, or at least not in the last 18 years? If one or more councillors are stuck in a particular rut and won't do things to move ahead, then should they be allowed to remain there?

One of my former bosses told me that you can have 25 years experience one year at a time, meaning that you can be there for 25 years but you don't progress beyond that first year. Might be why so many things don't ever seem to change because the same people have been doing the same job for so long.

There are business people that sit on Red Deer City Council and to my knowledge Morris hasn't really been a museum curator - he taught for a good many years though.

Getting in people's faces doesn't necessarily get the job done and may or may not do much for future relations.

[coppertop]

cowman, the only member of county staff that council has the power to 'skid' is the CEO. All other hirings and firings are the responsibility of the CEO and the head of the various departments, so if you expect your council to skid staff that aren't up to your specifications, then you are expecting your council to act in contravention of the Municipal Government Act, which could get them all 'skidded' by the Minister !!!

Council looks after the business of the municipality by setting policy and the budget and hiring a CEO to ensure that the actual work of the county gets done in a fiscally responsible manner.

Bet if you were a councillor you would be out riding in the plow truck !! LOL

[cowman]

coppertop: Are you sure you were ever on council? I don't know what world you are in to think a councillor doesn't have any pull? Whether you go through the CAO or not? Did you think you were there for window dressing? Maybe thats why you aren't there anymore?
Linda: Yep Morris was the museum currator! I know Morris very well...personally...and while he is a nice guy in his own way...I could tell you stories about how he isn't such a nice guy! in fact stories...about how he is a very bad guy! But whatever...what happens in Vegas...stays in Vegas...and that doesn't mean anything perverted or anything like that!
I guess I would ask why change something that works? Do we really need to "explore" the other side? especially when the other side is completely alien to what we believe to be the truth? Why would we elect something that doesn't coincide with anything we believe in? Maybe you could consider that when you contemplate your showing in the last election?

[coppertop]

cowman, there is a vast difference between a councillors powers as an elected official and his or her political clout within council and the community.

Of course, any councillor, good or bad has some sort of pull with the public or they wouldn't have been elected in the first place. Pull and political capital aren't the same as going into a staff members office and giving them orders or giving them hell !!!

I am very sorry if you don't believe I was ever on council or if you wish to question why I am not there...however, as I sit and write this I can see my Oath of Office for Reeve of our county hanging on my office wall.

[cakadu]

Group think can be a very bad thing, cowman, as history can attest to. I suppose it comes down to how you define "what works". If you happen to be amongst the folks that things happen for, then change isn't likely too welcome.

I'm not sure what you mean by "explore the other side" but thinking outside the box never hurt anyone or anything. More and more I am beginning to see the wisdom in Einstein's comment about not being able to solve a problem with the mindset that created it.

Many people become complacent with the status quo and that is okay if that is what you want.