Monday, March 21, 2016

Mayor McKay's Statement Misses the Mark

Photo: screengrab city webcast
Fails to address Council's written concerns

In a statement issued last week with regards why seven Councillors had asked the Mayor to resign it was stated:
  • Mayor McKay’s poor attendance at Council meetings. He has attended only 18 meetings out of a total of 29 over the past three months.
  • Mayor McKay has failed to respond to questions posed to him by Council and the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for nearly three months, a requirement under the Community Charter.
  • Mayor McKay made repeated attempts to remove the CAO from her position as interim CAO, including threats to dissolve Council.
  • Mayor McKay has failed to carry forward the wishes of the majority of Council on a number of key issues, thereby undermining the majority Council vote.
The statement the Mayor read out at the March 21 Council meeting basically did not address any of the concerns raised by the above and he pretty much said he was staying on, like it or not.

He said he welcomed Ms Samra to the position of CAO (one he is accused of trying to remove her from) and invited others to welcome her as well.

Claims by Councillors that there was bullying and harassment directed towards Ms Samra by the Mayor are not addressed either.

The statement read out at this Council meeting falls far short of adequately addressing the concerns raised by seven sitting City Councillors. The fact the majority of Council seem to have nearly no tools in the tool box to address this situation is as troubling as the questions raised.

allvoices

24 comments:

  1. It was quite apropos that in the meeting agenda last night under Mayor's report it indicated "None" for that as your post notes is exactly what it contained. I twice heckled the mayor over this nonsense -- "Deeds, not words!".

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  2. I agree that Mayor McKay’s statement last night, which he read during the mayors report, didn’t even come close to addressing the issues that were put forward by 7 council members regarding his behaviour. I found of particular interest this statement he read:
    “ I look forward to the entire council, advised by our CAO, Ms Tracy Samra, digging deep, finding the wisdom to forgive, heal & move forward in a cooperative, democratic & collaborative manner for the balance of this term.”
    Although the mayor acknowledges “the wisdom to forgive”, he doesn’t mention the wisdom in a sincere apology. I believe it is very difficult to forgive someone who doesn’t have the courage and humility to apologize.
    I believe if he is sincere in doing what is right for the citizens of Nanaimo, the balance of Council and the City staff, moving forward this would be a good first step. I also believe we can't change what we don't acknowledge so I am in full support of all of this mess being brought into the open and whatever consequences arise from this, so be it. Once trust is broken it then has to be earned.

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  3. how many people are on the 'lets gang up on mayor mckay' bandwagon? looks like a lot... it seems to me we are mostly hearing from one side but not the other.. as i recall there was conflict in the early part of this councils term that wasn't all about the mayor, but about some of the council members.. i suspect there are a few that are more focused on negativity then on being of benefit for the city of nanaimo.. that is my view as an outsider.. the fact jims website is very focused on this makes me think jim has a particular agenda, or has taken a side in this too.. that is also what it looks like to me...

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    1. Hey, let an investigation take place into the goings-on at City Hall. Actually, let's call in the RCMP. Then you'll see a lot of facts and it likely won't bode well for one or two. 7 of 8 councilors, who have not been all aligned since elected obviously have bonded for a reason. And do not let Ms. Brennan off the hook, as questions need to be raised about her part in the drama. You are indeed looking from the outside - and have not been around to hear the harassment and bullying allegations. Nor the alleged abuse of power / hiring of apparent unlimited hours by the Integrity group / and the spending on lawyers. I don't buy the....let someone off the hook...or playing the "gang up" card. If someone is guilty of such atrocious behavior they are not fit to hold office. Don't talk if you do not have a clue what you are talking about.

      -Relentless Council Watcher

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    2. to Relentless Council Watcher - i am sure the rcmp have already been informed if indeed any bullying and harassment has taken place... i suspect the rcmp already have a file on some of the councillors and possibly the mayor too.. unless a specific charge is laid, it is all empty conjecture at this point, but very potent and negative conjecture regardless.. if ganging up on someone is a form of bullying i wonder if the councillors can be accused of the same? or is it that ganging up on someone only has the best of intentions and is therefore not classified as bullying? this can cut both ways... i think the biblical reference is 'let him who hasn't sinned cast the first stone'..

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    3. S'funny how last night the mayor was in attendance, but not Ms. Brennan. Are they a tag team?

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    4. So, with the posting 20:56 22 March, with that illogic thinking, then if someone commits murder society better not go after him/her with befitting punishment, as it would be the majority "ganging up". Nuts!

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    5. Dear Anonymous, the hidden person writing about only hearing the one-side of the majority....

      Please, let's have the mayor answer the allegations and everything else he's been up to and simply not have him read that he wants - to move forward and not addressing the allegations Monday night.

      You ask about Mr. Taylor's agenda....the RIGHT question is, what's the mayor's agenda? He's the one playing with all the tax money!

      Kev.

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    6. anon @21:16 - are gord fuller and robert fuller a tag team? see post on the 51,000 question for more..

      anon @ 10:19 - did someone commit a murder? if there was some bullying was it reported to the rcmp? or, am i to conclude if 7 people say so that it therefore happened? sorry - but that doesn't past hearsay..

      anon @11:22 i agree the mayor would be best served addressing allegations as would the councillors in substantiating any allegations.. at present allegations are nothing more then allegations until they are substantiated... this is a 2 way street as i see it..

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  4. Anonymous: all I am reporting is the current events, and NEWS from city hall. No agenda here, except informing the voting public of Nanaimo. May I ask what your agenda is? Are you Mr. McKay, by chance?

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    1. hi jim - i am not mr. mckay, or a friend/relative of his..i have no connection to him.. i am an outside observer.. thanks for your response.

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  5. I agree, all this reporting is terribly one sided and clearly has an agenda - are the allegations by council true, or a coup by city council because they don't like the mayor and want him out? Who knows - that has not been proven, but all reporting like this does is fan the flames of the uninformed imho - And this is Morgan btw, not sure what my name might show up as (I'm not the anonymous guy above)

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    1. One sided? Ha-ha from the Mayors campaign party person. The mayor was also at your Dragon Den party.

      The majority of council is the side of democracy. If you really want to help out the mayor you can give him a cheque to pay off his Integrity Group bill. Be a buddy, like Nigel Wright and DUFFY.

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  6. Morgan, you are welcome to share any information you have in the interest of 'balance'. What do you know that would refute the claims of 7 out of 8 elected Councillors?

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  7. I am tired of people hiding behind the monikor of anonymous. I state my name every time I speak at council and comment on sites like these. If you haven't got the guts to stand behind your statements then you shouldn't make them. I am surprised that Mr. Taylor prints them. Stop hiding. Or are you the mayor's little bi...........

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  8. Mr. Storrie; I allow Anonymous comments, holding them to the same standards as all comments, regards liable, language etc. Not all people wish to be identified. That said, a signed comment IMHO carries more weight than an ANON one. I think readers are smart enough to judge all comments on their own merit.

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  9. Maybe people like to remain anonymous because if they do state their name (like Morgan did above) they get jumped on and the personal digs start coming?

    Frankly, I think a few of you that use your names should be ashamed of the things you say......... let the nasty responses fly.

    "Never argue with a fool...."

    Signed,

    Another anonymous (different than the above), not Morgan, and a relentless Council watcher and blog/forum follower

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  10. Indeed, EVERY BIT of evidence and allegation needs to be unleashed. Trouble, probably is, lawyers on all sides get in the way.

    Bottom line, if my tax dollars are being spent irreverently IT MUST STOP! PERIOD. I don't give a damn if it's a mayor, a councillor, a staffer. IT FRIGGING STOPS. This is not an endless piggy bank.

    Kev.

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  11. One other thing....I was bullied in school. And if it's being done at city hall, like 7 out of 8 councillors have attested to, then it frigging stops. And consequences happen to the bullier for doing the atrocious behavior.

    If I would have had a group that came to my aid, I would have wanted that. Knock-off the ganging up bull shit!

    Kev

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  12. Might be nice to have a name other than anon so people don't have to go...oh that anon comment above wasn't me and neither was the anon comment in response to Jim....etc. People could leave a comment using the Name/url option in the drop down menu.

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  13. The point of how many votes the Mayor received in contrast to the number of votes the most lowly councillor received prompts me to reveal some truth within the statistics:

    21,504 votes were cast for all the Mayor candidates. McKay got 6,400 or 29.76%.
    2nd place was Holdom with 4,265 votes or 19.83%.

    138,539 votes equals what was cast for all councillors. Bestwick got 10,218 or 7.38%.
    Thorpe, Fuller & Brennan each got less than 5%.

    1 vote per person for Mayor, but up to 8 votes per person for councillors.

    Everyone has a max of 8 votes for councillors - but if you vote for just 1, you are in fact voting against all the others.

    A more fair system would be: 1 vote to choose your choice of councillor and then rank them from first to eighth place according to the individual votes they get. In this system, Bestiwick might have received about 1,200-1800 votes - his count as his % of 21,500 votes - as opposed to the mayor who got 6,400 votes.

    Remember there were 26 candidates.

    It’s amazing what truths can be discovered when you look more closely at statistics.

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  14. The citizens of Nanaimo took a chance voting in so many inexperienced council members, and now we are paying the price. This is 2016, and Ms. Samra, I am sure, is quite capable of fighting her own battles with the many resources available to her. Mayor and council, please do the work you were voted in to do and stop the chaos. As a taxpayer, I am not in favour of paying for any of you to learn how to get along with others.
    (Signed anonymous to avoid social media bullies.)

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    1. The majority of council ARE doing their work! (But two are absent)

      I'm sick and tired of people nonchalantly saying no work is being done. Please, list us what work you allege is not being done...so we can scrutinize if you're right???

      Seems to me, some are upset they do not have a trail to the taxpayer piggy bank anymore.

      Kev

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