Cornwall Ontario – The budget process has been so weird this year in Cornwall that the CBC gave a dingle to councilor Mark MacDonald who was the most diplomatic I’ve ever heard him be while hammering at the fact that it’s time to look at the big ticket items rather than meandering about cuts to pizza for committees.
Go to the Tuesday March 6th Podcast to listen to Councilor MacDonald.
Ms Adams was party of a city government that turfed Robert Menagh without cause which cost the city approximately two years salary and about $300K while paying for his replacement Geoff Clarke who was promoted up and then a position Menagh had eliminated was reopened costing the city even more dosh.
Mo has been either the finance poohbah or CAO during Menagh’s entire term with the city of Cornwall which saw labour peace and the cutting of at least two management positions during his time with Cornwall including the one the city now is advertising below and has been paying out for awhile now. While he had some historic issues alleged in Hamilton there were no issues during his term in the River City other than he possibly following chain of command instead of becoming a whistleblower. But looking how that worked out for the three whistleblowers in one term in Cornwall can one blame him?
What is alleged though is that Menagh could’ve been forced to testify if any legal rumblings evolved regarding the Paul Fitzpatrick scandals which. Instead of the city holding him accountable, as well as clerk Denise Gelinas Labelle (Ms Adams neighbor in Long Sault coincidentally) both were allowed to retire and Menagh’s firing included a gag order, or he isn’t talking.
Geoff Clarke was hired to replace Mr. Menagh, but apparently couldn’t handle the gig so they hired a labour negotiator that has now taken Myles Cassidy’s old gig.
From the City’s website:
Careers – City of Cornwall
Manager, Employee Relations
The City of Cornwall is a progressive community of 47,000 people situated on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Eastern Ontario. Cornwall boasts a modern economy led by forward thinkers and offers an extensive array of urban amenities, making it an excellent place for a career and raising a family.
The City seeks a progressive leader to serve as the Manager, Employee Relations within the Human Resources department. Reporting to the General Manager of Corporate Services, you will be responsible for interpreting and identifying the link between collective agreements, corporate policies and employment legislations. This will also include responding and investigating grievances, working collaboratively with all involved parties including bargaining units and Supervisors/Managers, being a key member in the collective bargaining process, oversee Health and Safety for the Corporation and assist with training and development.
Our ideal candidate will be a role model for the City of Cornwall’s values of leadership, integrity, collaboration, inclusiveness, and diversity. Our candidate will have 7 to 10 years of leadership and operational experience within unionized environments, along with a post secondary education in a related field. Exceptional decision making, critical thinking, development and facilitation skills will be fundamental. Strong written and verbal communication will be necessary in preparing documentation for grievances, arbitrations and mediations. With Cornwall’s rich history in both official languages, bilingualism will also be considered beneficial.
The City of Cornwall offers a competitive compensation and benefits package.
Estimated salary plus benefits is in the $125K per year range which wasn’t much less than Menagh was making so what exactly do we need Geoff Clarke for? How many bloated salaries can a community handle that has to debate pizza for committees and has reserve fund issues?
Was Mo so busy she needed to have another senior manager? Is this like they do in hockey now, where a GM fails so they promote him to President and hopefully bring in someone who can do the job?
And if Menagh is available why not simply bring him back as he clearly had a rapport with the local unions and kept the budget focused?
What do you think dear CFN viewers? Would it be cheaper to just bring back Robert Menagh if he was available and turf Geoff Clarke and his Sunshine List salary and simply not fulfill this job listing?
How many HR managers does a city like Cornwall really need? Instead of having salary and hiring freezes while jacking up management salaries and demoralizing city workers why not simply fix management?
City Council has the power to resolve any issues at the CAO level where it looks like Ms Adams clearly isn’t up to snuff including going on vacation during budget hearings this week with strike drums beating from CUPE workers.
Is it time for Brampton 2.0 here in Cornwall? You can post your comments below.
Fire them all…enough of hiring for the sake of hiring
Too many apparently. If we could get a city council that understands that they work for the taxpayers and not to hire overpaid do nothings we’d be better off.
Screw the average worker to benefit a manager who can not do his job that has been clear for how long now? 5 years still no contracts done if this were an average union worker he would have been fired guaranteed. Here let’s just hire this poor manager help? TWICE? REALLY? This is on the CAO Mayor and a gutless council. Council don’t tell us your on our side again. Taxpayers see what you pay for?
Agreed Pete, “THE GONGERS”, come up with, cuts to grass cutting, close pools, etc,,, while City Admin. is totally out of control ? WE MUST CUT BACK, as we all know , our taxes are ridiculous in our City. A 4-5-6 % increase is unacceptable. IMO, 5 senior management could be gone tomorrow & would not be missed ! imo
Firefighters in Cornwall making similar salaries to those in the GTA is ludicrous! Sorry but do we really need that many firefighters in Cornwall? Shut one location down and have a central location.
I was all on board with Bob’s comment until he said to shut one fire station. What should be done is hut the one on Fourth St and move it north west.
Jamie,
This manager should be a role model, have intrgety and leadership, guess that leaves out Rob. Menagh. From what I have resd they are looking for a Labour Relations Manager to work in Hr. yet he/she will be reporting the CAO, that is a resipe for disaster from my experience. For clarification Mr. Menagh severence was more than any other Manager has ever recieved in Cornwall history.
Di
Bob,
As far as the cost of Firefighters in Cornwall. There have been several avenues explored in the past. One is to cross train EMS and Fire reducing over numers as well as overtime. The second was to hire part time firefihters to cover sick, vacation and leaves. Right now full time cover these shift with overtime cost. Either solution would provide the same service and reduce cost greatly