Issues include transparancy, staff and beach project costs
Last Tuesday evening's Council meeting got off to a troubled start, with the second resignation of a councillor this term coming right before the meeting began.
Marcus Reuter contacted The Watershed prior to the meeting with a statement announcing his resignation, just one of the concerns raised by residents in the public participation session that is held near the start of every meeting.
Long-time resident Deirdre Bain addressed her comments to both Council and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Ross Blackwell, stating her disappointment with the news of Reuter's resignation.
She noted Reuter had strong support from residents during the 2023 election.
"He proved himself in being a highly motivated and strongly principled person in my eyes" Bain said. "He was elected to Council to help bring good, upright local governance to Lions Bay. But it was not allowed to be."
Bain said that she had attended "95 percent of council meetings" over the past 13 years, noting that for 11 of those years her husband Fred Bain stood as a council member. She said that she had watched Reuter being "verbally attacked and maligned by Mayor Berry, Councillor Broughton and CAO Blackwell (all) trying to seemingly shut him down."
"You will claim innocence that this was not so, but many residents have come before Council to draw attention to the consistent problems and concerns. They ended up being bullied into silence, and not being heard or taken seriously whatsoever, in my opinion."
Bain said that the individuals running for this council term each promised transparency, to bring down staff costs and to ensure the Lions Bay Beach Park (LBBP) project costs were in order under the restraints of the grant, but "all of those promises have failed."
She noted that more than two years into Council's term, the LBBP project is no closer to going forward, with cost over-runs that are not being shared with the community, and the work of volunteers throughout the community disrespected. She said that that the power struggle on Council has led to "atrocious" treatment of Councillor Reuter, and is directly responsible for his resignation.
Bain's presentation to Council was interrupted by both Blackwell, who objected to her "casting aspersions," and by Mayor Ken Berry, who said she had gone over time. (The full text of Deirdre Bain's remarks is available HERE).
Bain's concern about overspending on the LBBP project was echoed in remarks by Lions Bay resident Morgan Gatto. Gatto said that he reviewed the project budget numbers as provided by the Financial Officer in the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued in 2024, and presented a copy to each member of Council.
Gatto compared the costs of the budget based on the grant with the total current and projected costs.
Between 2019 and 2024, costs totalled just over $309,000, which includes design and engineering, project management, playground equipment and area preparation, and the money spent so far on the kayak launch and Lori Beck picnic area. He said that even with the removal of the kayak/water equipment storage facility from the scope of the project, costs have ballooned. Gatto notes the original cost to Lions Bay over and above the grant money was projected to be just over $285,000.
The current total cost to the Village, based on current and projected costs as provided by staff tops $886,000.
Gatto concluded the costs make the project not viable under the current budget, and asked that Council take this information into consideration before moving forward with the project. (The Watershed will offer a more detailed examination of Gatto's assessment later this week.)
Fifty-plus year Village resident Rose Dudley also expressed her concerns about the rise of expenditures in the Village, emphasizing cost over-runs with the Lions Bay Beach Park (LBBP) project, on the most recent audit, which she pointed out has cost about $100,000 more than past audits, and the near-tripling of legal fees paid by the current council.
But the principle focus of her remarks was what she called the "mind-boggling" increases in staff compensation. Municipal staff salaries are a matter of public record, and Dudley cited the salaries of the former manager of Public Works and former CFO at $109,000 in 2022. She contrasted that with current salaries listed in the most recent version of the budget (HERE, beginning on page 31), with both positions now earning base salaries before benefits of $130,000 each.
Dudley also turned her attention to the Chief Administrative Officer's salary. "The replacement for the CAO is now costing us more than the former CAO who earned $144,000 in his last year," she said. "And the new CAO’s beginning salary of $140,000 already stands at $170,000 – a $30,000 increase since he was hired just a year and a half ago."
Addressing Mayor Berry, Dudley reminded him that prior to being elected, on April 19th, 2022, he spoke to the Mayor and Council of the time of his concern that staff salaries were "going up at an alarming rate." Dudley added that the salaries under his administration have increased far more.
"A further irony is that in Mr Berry's platform in his run to be the next Mayor he stated that he would 'Invoke an immediate staff hiring freeze to focus on our existing team,'" she said. "How does he now justify that the present staff members are earning so much more than the previous experienced, dedicated and efficient staff?"
After the meeting, The Watershed's contacted members of Council and CAO Blackwell with a request for further comment. In reply, Councillor Neville Abbott said that he felt Council has failed Reuter. He further clarified that Council can only respond to resident concerns raised in a meeting through a consensus response, which is unlikely to happen.
"We can, however, raise these concerns as part of a Council meeting on the budget for example. It is my intention to do so when the opportunity arises," he said.
The resignation of a councillor outside of an election year does indeed trigger a byelection, he added. He said the Local Government Act requires Council to appoint a chief elections officer as soon as is practicable and hold an election within 80 days of that appointment, on a Saturday.
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I just listened to the link above to the “Apr 19, 2022” council meeting. I would suggest all other residents reading this article should also listen to the public participation section that starts a short time into the linked video. You will hear in the video the current mayor and his supporters speak out in early 2022, prior to the election, about the frustration and deep concern they had and how they were echoing what other residents were saying. Those residents on the video said they only wanted a new washroom in the park not the costs of total replacement of everything in the park, they also didn’t want any project managers, and they were concerned about escalating staff co…
The results of the current council and senior management during this term have, to say the least, been disappointing.
I can only assume that many people who voted in our last election in the Village are now regretting the choices they made…just as many Americans are now regretting the choices they made in their recent election.
Thank you!
I have been absolutely horrified by the costs this council have and are incurring, and the behavior I have seen from some has been reprehensible!
Even with different wants the council should have been able to find a way to work towards the common good for this village, but that has been blown out of the water by petty power plays.
(I applaud Deirdre's letter, and am grateful it was written and presented)
Such clear reporting. Thank you for this important information.