Today the Mayor announced changes to the Standing Committees at City Hall. I am no longer the Chair of the Human Resources & Pension Committee, but will instead spend the second half of my term serving as Chair of the Police & Bylaw Enforcement Committee.
My time on the HR Committee has been very interesting and rewarding, and I have been happy to maintain the confidential nature of much the committee’s business. Chairing the Police Committee will be a much more public challenge. I can expect a regular barrage of difficult questions from my fellow councillors at Council meetings, as well as demands to meet ever increasing expectations from the public.
The Charlottetown Police Services are currently under a full independent review. The review is being conducted by an incredibly impressive duo “from away” with deep experience in policing, police auditing, and organizational change management. I look forward to receiving their report and implementing its recommendations with Chief Smith and Deputy Chief Collins.
I am also pleased that I will continue to work with the City’s Director of HR, Andrew Thompson, who is also the Director responsible for Police Services. Andrew is a real professional and a helluva nice guy. He has shepherded me through my first two years of committee work and I am very happy that we will continue to work together.
Police, eh? Who’d a thunk it? I’ve got some learnin’ to do in the New Year.
I am pleased to announce the City’s bargaining committee met yesterday with representatives from CUPE Local 501 (Waste Water Treatment Plant) and reached an agreement that will end the strike. Both the union and City Council ratified the agreement last night and a joint press release will be issued today. The Plant workers will be back on the job tomorrow.
I’m hopeful an agreement can be reached soon with CUPE Local 501 (Wastewater Treatment Plant). In the meantime, as they continue to strike, the union has obviously employed some type of email robot to facilitate the sending of a form letter to the Mayor and Council. I’ve been receiving them at a brisk and steady pace since yesterday, and they appear to be coming from CUPE members and supporters from as far away as Ontario, and even Ireland, strangely.
Many of the correspondents have not bothered to alter the final sentence which reads:
As mentioned, Pick Your Councillor will also be notified of my concern.
Still, the point is well taken. The union is making a demonstration of their support, and it certainly is being noticed by me as my email inbox alarm continues to ring away. As a tactic, I’m not sure how effective this is but I do hope the union and the City’s bargaining committee come to an agreement sooner rather than later. About a week into this strike, I received a visit at my home by two members of the striking local. They were very cordial and presented me with some helpful information. More than three weeks into the strike now, it would be best for everyone concerned if we could find a resolution. But I’ve heard it said that a good compromise is an agreement where everyone involved is equally unsatisfied, something both sides will have to keep in mind.
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