ROTHENBURGER – Please, let’s let the Byron McCorkell episode go away now
(Image: CFJC Today)
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
THE BYRON McCORKELL affair is over. Let it stay that way.
Acting CAO McCorkell was suspended from his job, then he was re-instated. Let it end there.
Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson, at first quoted as saying he intends to carry through with his original plan to explain the suspension on April 9, currently appears inclined to let the matter be.
But now there’s talk from within the council that the mayor should do just that at a yet-to-be-called closed-door meeting on that date.
Did I really hear Coun. Bill Sarai, the deputy mayor for April, say such a meeting must be closed because it’s a personnel matter, and in the next breath say taxpayers have a right to know?
It’s pretty rich for councillors to want an explanation from the mayor now, after they refused to wait an extra couple of days until he was back in town before they held a special meeting to lift the suspension.
Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
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As this month progresses, the deputy Mayor, having been a strong union man during his working life, may have a few moments of soul-searching. He already has an understanding that part of the reason for the suspension may well be the breaking of a union contract which protected the former bylaw services employees.
No matter how some folks try to describe the former bylaw employees, they were union employees working within the bounds of their contract. Some of the guys ended up having to take a job in a different department. (I was surprised to see one fellow lifting catch basin covers to inspect sewers.) Others were turfed.
Hardly fair; but let’s hear from the former bylaw services employees through a couple of interviews and an editorial, Mel.
It would be a show of faith for Deputy Mayor Sarai to try and understand Mayor Hamer-Jackson on this point. Is it expecting too much for this to happen?
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This whole fiasco was botched from the outset. I believe that McCorkell should go–he’s needlessly cost taxpayers way too much and I think he’s been promoted past his level of competency. However, why didn’t the mayor have his list of reasons in order before firing McCorkell? If I have to hear about Mr. Hamer-Jackson’s election signs one more time I’m going to crack, lol. How is that even city business?
As for city hall leaks, CAO Trawin said he was waiting for council to order an investigation, despite the fact that BC Privacy laws require it–it’s not up to council. All the leaks so far have been detrimental to the mayor. It’s doubtful that anyone at city hall will ever have a taste for investigating these.
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The issues at City Hall with administrators, spanning various councils and holding the sizzling pot of City business by the handle, will continue. Will continue until the day a council where at least three/four members will be unconditionally on top of things.
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I don’t know McCorkle, but I can’t imagine this has been easy for him or his family. It would be nice to think that folks would let it rest, but I doubt with the kind coverage that it has that will happen anytime soon I really found some of the coverage disturbing, especially Hammer Jackson’s surrogate, calling for his head
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That’s a fair point Renee, but it must not have been easy for the 25 former employees who were pushed out of their jobs permanently 2 years ago, although they’re probably quite pleased now that they have won the arbitration battle. These were not just 25 employees but 25 citizens who deserved better treatment, they deserved loyalty and respect for their service. Shouldn’t the city apologize for this wrongful behaviour and shouldn’t we thoroughly investigate how this happened so it doesn’t happen again?
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