Haldimand "Together we can Open Doors"

I have received some phone calls and e-mails regarding the decision that council made last week regarding "all" correspondence that goes through the Mayor's Office. I have a few ideas, and I need your help. But first, here is the resolution that was passed by council last week;

Resolution 863-07

Moved By: Councillor Sloat
Seconded By: Councillor Bartlett

WHEREAS the Mayor’s office receives a considerable volume of correspondence through written or electronic form;

AND WHEREAS the Mayor has acknowledged in the past that management of this correspondence, especially e-mails has been overwhelming to the point where many e-mails may go unanswered or otherwise not responded to;

AND WHEREAS the management of this correspondence is critical to the effective operation of the County;

AND WHEREAS the dissemination of this correspondence to the remainder of Council as well as the Clerk is of utmost importance to successfully conduct the business of the Corporation.

NOW THEREFORE be it resolved:

THAT all correspondence sent and received through the Mayor’s office including all email addressed to the Mayor by title or name, be copied to the Mayor’s Assistant and the Chief Administrative Officer of the County;

AND THAT the Mayor’s Assistant implement this direction for all hard copy correspondence;

AND THAT the Information Systems Division ensure that all emails sent to the Mayor by title or name are automatically copied to the Mayor’s Assistant and the Chief Administrative Officer of the County;

AND THAT the Chief Administrative Officer, in his/her discretion, refer relevant emails/correspondence to the appropriate General Manager for action/response;

AND THAT the Chief Administrative Officer, in his/her discretion, bring relevant emails/correspondence to Council through the Clerk’s office for action/response while protecting the privacy of individuals in terms of personal information;

AND THAT the Chief Administrative Officer report back to Council within six months as to the effectiveness of this process.

This was a recorded vote. Mayor Trainer and Councilor Grice voted against this resolution.

What can we do?

The following is a copy of the "petition" that I have put together;

As Residents of Haldimand County we no longer have the faith or the confidence in the Administrative Performance of the Corporation of Haldimand County.

Mr. John Gerretsen, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; We the Residents of Haldimand County request your Ministry to conduct a "Forensic Audit" on the "Corporation of Haldimand County" immediately.

About three years ago we had approached Municipal Affairs with a petition of 150 signatures (that was what was required) and requested that a forensic audit be done on Haldimand County. We were told at that time that Municipal Affairs felt that we needed to deal with this on our own with council. Well the truth of the matter is that Council will not even listen to the taxpayers of Haldimand County.

So I suggest that we try this again. If we can get 5,000 signatures from residents of Haldimand County, that would be powerful! Someone would have to hear our cry for help! Remember when we fought and saved Haldimand County Hydro? That petition had 3,267 signatures! In the 2006 Municipal Election approx. 16,800 residents went to the polls. We will be heard if we are successful with the numbers on this petition. I have already e-mailed this petition to a few people across the County, I will be asking some local business owners to once again help out. I will update you with where you can sign the petition.

The next plan of action is going to the Courts. I have not completed all of my paperwork required for this, but I should be ready in the next couple of weeks. This is where I will also need some help. I will be going to see the Justice of the Peace regarding Criminal Charges under section 184 (1) and 184 (2), more detail on that in a later post. I can not promise that this will work, but we have to try. I will have to make out 5 sets of complaints, one for each council member that voted "yes", and the cost for the paperwork at the Courthouse is $181.00 for each complaint. I will need financial assistance to do this. If you can help please contact me, I am not hard to find.

I have also started the paperwork for a formal complaint to the "Privacy Commissioner's Office", the "Integrity Commissioner" and the "Ombudsman". If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

We can not fight council on this decision. "The Doors are Closed Tight".

I would like to "clarify" a statement that was made by Councilor Sloat to a local newspaper reporter, "he stated that we did not go through the "proper" channels to be heard"! The truth about this was that "council" didn't follow their own procedures here! There was no "motion" prior to this "resolution", the public was not privy to this, actually the Mayor was not even "privy" to what council and staff were up to! So is this how a Council Member tells the "truth" to the public?

We can make a Difference!