Weird things are again happening in Erin. For months it appeared serious questions about leadership at the town were being addressed. Yet this summer, several perplexing moves brought to us visions of Erin councils past.
To be fair, these aren’t the same kind of troubles that hindered the previous regime to the point of near paralysis (including mindless bickering and infighting and seemingly endless, malicious complaints/investigations).
This time around, it seems many of those at the leadership level at the town prefer to operate under a shroud of secrecy. Less than a year ago, during the municipal election campaign, several of the successful candidates for council pledged to fix what they rightfully termed a “dysfunctional” council and to foster an “open and transparent” atmosphere at the town.
These buzz words are popular with prospective politicians, but in our experience, it’s often those who most stridently espouse transparency that end up being the most secretive.
A few recent examples of Erin officials being less than candid with residents include:
– offering in-principle support for an operational review, the financial details of which have not been adequately explained or justified to township taxpayers;
– deciding to hire a “director of infrastructure” (who will have immense responsibility, overseeing the water, roads and parks departments) after only discussing the matter in closed session; and
– holding two in-camera meetings this month (outside of regular council) to discuss senior staff members, one resulting in a glowing vote of confidence for the CAO and two other staffers, the other in the suspected firing of the roads superintendent.
The latter incident marks the third time this year a prominent Erin staff member has been dismissed. Of course, this week Mayor Allan Alls stuck to the same tired, disingenuous script we’ve heard all too often, stating only that the roads superintendent “is no longer with the town.”
Everyone knows what that means. Worse yet, they understand the price tag that comes with these decisions; more than one in a year will result in exorbitant severance costs. Withholding details about decisions that could cost taxpayers tens (perhaps hundreds) of thousands of dollars, all under the guise of “privacy” concerns, is appalling.
Whether the root of the problem can be traced to council or top staff is unclear, but eight months into this new regime, serious leadership issues persist in Erin.
