McQUARRIE – The mayor, our employee, should cut the strings with City Hall and get on with his dream

LET’S SUPPOSE, just for a moment, that I work for you.  I know, it’s a scary thought for both of us but hang in there and for the sake of this column we’ll just assume that for the past 10 years or so, I’ve been in your employ.  I’ve been doing an okay job though, or at least good enough because you’ve kept me on all these years.

Then one day I come to you and explain that I’m looking for a better job.  I feel it’s time to move on and try something that’s more challenging. Not an unusual situation in employer/employee relationships…so far that is.

Our conversation is not over though as I let you know that I don’t exactly have a new job lined up but do have a lead on a really good possibility.  Unfortunately, it could be six to seven months before I know if I made the cut.  Despite that uncertainty, I have to put a lot of time and effort into the application process.  As a result, we both know my work for you is going to suffer and at times the process of qualifying for this new job will put me in a conflict of interest.

Next I drop a little bombshell when I explain I don’t want to give up my job with you until the new one is a sure thing. I want to keep my current position until this new one is a done deal.  And I want full pay even though you know you won’t have my full interest, attention or efforts.

I know it will have a negative impact on the rest of the team, creating uncertainty and infighting but hey that’s your problem, not mine.  And if the new job doesn’t come through, I want to continue on with my current position as if nothing had happened.  You just have to forget I created this mess when I tried to leave you.

This would definitely be an awkward conversation for us.  It’s not the ‘I want to move on part’ as everyone deserves a chance to better themselves.  It’s the wanting to be kept on staff and on the payroll, even when we both know my heart, my interests and my efforts are no longer there. And it doesn’t help that I don’t see this as awkward or even ethically questionable.

Of course, just to be on the safe side, I also make sure you’re aware the law allows me to do this.  There’s no way you can get rid of me unless I rediscover my moral compass and do the right thing by resigning.  This lack of personal ethics seems even odder considering I need your support to make this new job happen.  In fact, without your support my chances are pretty much zip.

I think you and I agree the above scenario would be just a bit weird.  So much so that we can safely say, at least in the real world, it would never happen to us.  Or could it?

Sadly, it can and currently is happening at the local municipal and provincial politics level.  Our mayor, technically our employee, has advised us that he’s going after a new and better job.  And just like the above make-believe storyline, he seems unable or unwilling to cut the strings to City Hall and I’m having a difficult time accepting that.

In my world of non-taxpayer funded reality, if I want to make changes or move on to new ventures I can.  In the process I will face those real world challenges and consequences of my decision. There’s no safety or security net to fall back on, so it requires strength of conviction, hard work and an acceptance that failure is a possibility.  These all demand character and fortitude and right now I’m not seeing any of those qualities being demonstrated at City Hall.

My personal belief is that if you want to move on, then quit, let someone else who wants it as badly as you once did take over as mayor and then get on with following your new dream.  That’s the kind of conviction I can admire.  To do otherwise leaves the City in limbo, shows a weakness in character I hadn’t seen before and shows a huge disregard for your employer and the many complex problems they have to navigate, whether you are mayor or not.

Bill McQuarrie is a Kamloops entrepreneur. He can be contacted at billmcquarrie@gmail.com. He tweets @mcrider1.