Reaction is mixed in the wake of Monday’s resident-led presentation about last year’s hiring of a sitting councillor for a city administration job.
“The whole thing has frustrated me since day one when he (Gilles Prefontaine) was hired. I don’t believe things were done quite transparently and we don’t know what happened,” said Kevin Malinowski, one of the co-founders of St. Albert Poliwings, a political discussion group.
In the aftermath of Steve Stone’s presentation and a report prepared by Stone and other residents that was submitted to the minister of municipal affairs about the hiring of Prefontaine for the job of chief community development officer, Malinowski is left wanting more information before he rushes to judgment about what happened.
Dana Popadynetz , a co-founder of St. Albert Poliwings, thinks it was wrong for Prefontaine to apply and for city manager Patrick Draper to have accepted the application, but said he doesn’t think the question of Prefontaine’s qualifications are what’s at the heart of the issue. Prefontaine’s lack of a bachelor’s degree was part of the presentation on Monday, though he does have a masters of business administration.
“I think there needs to be an open dialogue with Patrick (Draper) about how the situation happened and was handled,” Popadynetz said. “I think that council pretending, basically ignoring this issue as a whole and not really commenting on it or even having an open public discussion … is wrong and it’s to the detriment of the city.”
Resident Shayne Kawalilak isn’t that fussed about the question of Prefontaine’s educational credentials. But he said leaving an elected position for the city job “seemed like a childish move,” though he could see why a good salary was an attractive option.
“I absolutely think the province has to investigate, especially since there’s been two different requests,” Kawalilak said.
Natalie Mikus, who ran in the 2015 byelection to replace Prefontaine, said in a message that “hiring senior leadership is far more complex than looking at bullet points on a resume,” and a bachelor’s degree has “nothing to do with identifying someone with the leadership and vision required to be a leader in municipal planning.”
Ed Ramsden, who placed second in the 2015 byelection race, said, “They’re kind of beating a dead horse now,” referring to this week’s presentation.
“It’s the same vocal minority who are more interested in tearing the city down than building it up,” he said. “You set a dangerous precedent if you start letting the vocal minorities control who the city hires, who the city fires.”
Jim Lightbody, a political scientist with the University of Alberta, said St. Albert residents are “justifiably angered” over the hiring of a sitting councillor to run a department that includes planning and engineering without a background in either of those two areas.
If residents want Municipal Affairs to step in, he suggests speaking to the local MLA and sending personal letters to the MLAs and the minister.
George Cuff, a former mayor of Spruce Grove and long-time consultant on municipal governance, said in an email that there have been other examples of a member of council being hired into municipal administration.
“The decision on who to hire/fire in senior management is that of the city manager and there should be no interference in that by members of council; this is not only ‘good practice’ but is also legislated,” Cuff said.
“The real question is: has the person hired been effective in their new position? If so, then the rest of the discussion and criticism becomes muted,” he said.
Cuff wrote that the provincial government often defers to municipalities on these types of decisions “unless things smacked of blatant political interference.”
Those heading online to the city’s video archive of the meeting to watch Stone’s presentation might be surprised some of it has been cut from the video record with a notice that section – the part where Stone talked about some of the other possible applicants’ qualifications – had been edited out due to concerns over those people’s privacy.
Names were not mentioned during the presentation, though qualifications were. Names were part of the report that was sent to the minister.
City communications adviser Marci Ng said the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act section referenced in the video is in regards to the personal information that was cited.
Issues of personal privacy were also at the heart of a memo sent to council members this week that some interpreted as advice to not speak about the presentation at all.
“Basically what they said is you’d be in violation of FOIP if you discussed this with anyone,” said Coun. Cam MacKay of the note he got from city administration. He’s since consulted with his own lawyer on the topic.
“I don’t appreciate the bullying of elected officials, and it seems to be a constant thing that goes on,” he said.
Coun. Bob Russell highlighted that memo in a letter he is sending to the minister of municipal affairs in support of the request for an investigation.
He didn’t like how council was told to not talk, he said, though he agrees with the principle of keeping information from individuals that may have applied to the city private.
“I don’t want people at risk of losing their jobs,” he said.
Cory Sinclair, communications manager for the city, said in an email, “The intent was not to restrict comment on the presentation itself,” but to advise council members that there was personal information in the report that should not be circulated by an elected official.
MacKay chaired Monday’s meeting and said he allowed Stone’s presentation to go beyond the five minutes normally allotted for a public presentation to council because Stone asked for extra time at the outset, and he doesn’t like cutting people off who come to speak to council.
Asked about whether or not a personnel matter should have been dealt with in camera, he responded, “In this case, the personnel matter was a political matter. I mean it was a former councillor, so certainly something everyone was aware of … I don’t think there was much mention about performance other than the people that had left,” MacKay said, noting he was listening to hear if any names were mentioned and none were.
