News - Stories and Rants
Sunday, 21 October 2018
Saturday, 20 October 2018
Some strange action going on at Branch 4 Royal Canadian Legion on Queen Street in Fredericton??????
Fredericton Mayor O'Brien and City Council,
Subject: Branch 4 legion sale and move
We understand that you met with some representatives from the Fredericton Legion to discuss renting the property on the Exhibition grounds.
A few things that you are most likely unaware of, is the fact that the majority of the membership were never informed that there was going a sale of the legion at the June 21 general meeting.
The membership is close to 500 and less than 50 showed up.
Although the legion by-laws are very clear that the membership is required to be notified a minimum of 14 days prior to any meeting of a sale, and information about the possible sale must be included. This did not happen.
The notice of the meeting did not appear in the Daily Gleaner (only Pub) until June 20th, the day before the meeting, and June 21stthe day of the meeting, this has been verified by a search in the provincial archives. This does not appear to be the action of a group who are trying to inform their membership of a possible sale, in fact, we suggest it is quite the opposite; they are trying to slip this pass the majority. So far it appears to be working, as even the minutes of their meetings are so vague and loaded with misinformation. An example of this is at the June 21stmeeting the past President, stated ‘this is just proposal, nothing has been signed’. This is in the minutes, it was mentioned, as well, that consent would have to come from Provincial command for this to move forward.
There were no meetings in July and August.
When we returned for the general meeting on September 20th, the story had changed to where now it was, as one member put it, “ a done deal” and that the questions that one member was asking was redundant
. There is no mention of the proposal being signed, no mention of approval of Provincial command, no lawyer executing the transaction. There is nothing in the minutes of the Executive meeting, so when did this happen, if in fact it did?
What there is however, is three individuals with no notable history in negotiation attempting to put through a deal which may, or may not, be in the best interest of the membership without allowing the entire membership the right to look at this proposal and to make their own informed decision.
We are writing to you in hopes that this approval can be put aside until the Broad of Directors opens up and presents full disclosure to the entire membership, which, according to by-laws, it is required to be done by letter, mailed to the members last known address.
Why, are ‘we’ as members called ‘the silent majority’, are choosing this route to make our concerns heard?
This particular Sub Executive Board has a history of being very abusive to members who speak out against their actions. There have been several members who have actually left and taken memberships at other legions due to the lack of willingness to listen to concerns and the rude dismissing language they were subjected to for bringing their concerns forward. We, as a group are virtually unknown to the executive, they may suspect some of us, but we attempt to keep a low profile.
At the end of the day we may approve this transaction, we may not, however, right now we simply want what is ours….the right to be informed, provided with the documents as proposed by Mr. George, and have our questions answer in a respectful manner.
We would certainly appreciate your assistance while we continue to seek answers.
Respectfully,
Branch 4 Silent Majority
Hanwell Mayor Chris Melvin quits!!!
I have resigned.
Believe it or not, being the Mayor of Hanwell is not a full time career. There are lots of hours spent in lots of meetings and there is a $15,000 salary but like most people in municipal politics, I need a day job. Recently, that day job became the topic of conversation by Council.
Hanwell has a bylaw governing such things as Mayor and Council’s remuneration and attendance. Knowing that, I wrote to Council last month seeking permission to be absent from 4 regular Council meetings. I needed that permission because my day job had me out of town. Council has the discretion to excuse a Mayor’s absence for any reason but in my case they refused. They felt that my needing to be at my day job was not a valid reason to be absent. Further more, projecting my attendance to the end of the year, Council wants to penalize me by having to pay back approximately $5 - 6,000 of my salary.
Its important to note that attending a regular Council meeting is actually the least burdensome activity for a Mayor. Being Mayor means sitting on multiple committees of the municipality; it means sitting on the Board of the RSC11 and two sub committees; it means attending countless activities - everything from community breakfasts to ceremonial duties; it means responding to emails and phone calls at all hours. All of those activities are extremely important and are very rewarding. Unfortunately, according to a strict interpretation of the remuneration bylaw, they are irrelevant when it comes to measuring the performance of a Mayor.
The remuneration bylaw suggests that the only measure of performance for a Mayor is simply showing up at a meeting 12 times a year. At least that is what someone would conclude pursuant to a strict interpretation of the bylaw.
The bylaw does not clearly define the period of time in which to measure attendance. A broad interpretation could be for a 4 year term. A strict interpretation would have it narrowed to one year. Council opted for 1.
When faced with this decision, instead of stepping back to see if the wording of the bylaw was even reasonable, council opted for a strict interpretation. Again, that means me being penalized by approx $5 - 6,000.
This issue has raised a potential confrontation between Mayor, staff and Council. Such confrontation is unhealthy especially for the community. We need to focus on other matters - the upcoming budget season and the opening of the community and municipal building in the spring just to name a couple.
Because of the position I’m now faced, I have opted to resign. A few minutes ago, I offered my letter of resignation to the Clerk. This was a very tough decision but I feel it’s best for all involved. This incident will be a short term distraction but it will pass and Hanwell will move on under a very capable Deputy Mayor.
It has been a pleasure to serve Hanwell in various capacities since 2012. It meant a lot to me and my family.
Friday, 19 October 2018
Thursday, 18 October 2018
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