I am writing about Coun. Bob Russell’s letter concerning “someone” on city council and/or in city administration “dropping the ball” in 2012-2013 regarding the planning of sanitary sewers to service land development. His second-to-last paragraph is a crafty and nasty bit of prose implying Mayor Nolan Crouse and our CAO Patrick Draper are at the fore of what Mr. Russell considers a serious boondoggle deserving of some sort of investigation and recrimination. His last sentence is a clear swipe at both these people and anyone else whom Mr. Russell deems culpable of mistake or misjudgment. There have been many observations and comments recently about city council’s inability to behave well, to both act and interact constructively and responsibly, and to work as a team in the best interests of all residents. Mr. Russell’s adverse comments made in the most public manner possibly reinforce these. I think his rhetoric is counter-productive and demonstrates that despite his gaining senior-citizen status he’s not showing that one necessarily gains maturity and wisdom with age. I think his call for witch-hunting about what may or may not have taken place years ago is counter-productive. His commentary does nothing to lead to increased harmony among city council but rather does the opposite. It’s certainly not the action of a good leader. It appears Mr. Russell’s comments also put him in violation of the St. Albert City Council Code of Conduct Policy C-CG-08, Schedule A which states in part: “ Avoid public comment on unsatisfactory staff performance.” His comments clearly don’t respect that requirement. He even goes further to besmirch not only city staff but also infers elected officials are possibly included in his broad-brush assertions. I think he’s not only in violation of the letter of the Code of Conduct, but also its overall intent. Mr. Russell should remember three old common-sense dictums: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” “The pot shouldn’t call the kettle black," and “We have two ears and only one mouth for a reason.” I agree with comments by C. McLeod about Mr. Russell’s behaviour in a letter to the paper on Nov. 21, 2015 wherein Mr. McLeod stated that Mr. Russell “…. has slowly transformed into an angry old man yelling into the wind. It’s time to retire.” He should, because at this point he’s doing more harm than good.
It seems all external observations about such abrasive and disruptive behavior have had no impact on him at all. I doubt he’ll resign. Consequently I think city council should pass a motion of censure against him and further ban him from council meetings until he has issued a public statement acknowledging that he transgressed the City Council Code of Conduct and commits to not doing so again in future. I don’t think anything lesser will put him on the right track.
David Merritt, St. Albert
