Town Outsourcing Human Relations, Insurance, Benefits Administration?
A little over two weeks ago, I made an inquiry regarding “the role of AON Hewitt in relation to the town; the date the service was acquired; the annual cost and the length of the contract.”
According to its website, “Aon is the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services.”
As expected, a bureaucratic process ensued:
Paula Parker, the town’s Manager of Municipal Governance, asked me to clarify “whether you mean Insurance or Human Relations? Once I have a better understanding, I may better answer your question.”
I replied “just to clarify, any and all roles of AON Hewitt in its relationship to the town.”
Ms. Parker, “Thank you for the clarification Mrs. Saxon, I have copied Michelle Rose, Manager of Human Resources, as she may be better able to assist you with this portion of your request.” (I also made an inquiry relative to the procedure by-law; more on that will be posted on a future date).
I emailed Ms. Parker, Ms. Rose and all council members, “it’s been two weeks since i asked the question below about AON Hewitt; is it any wonder people complain about a lack of transparency?”
Ms. Parker, “I apologize for the delay in response. It is my understanding that the Town does not have this information and Michelle Rose, Manager of Human Resources, is trying to obtain the information you have requested from AON Hewitt. However, has not received the information to date. When I have any other information on the status of your request, I will certainly notify you.”
How could the town not have this information? Either a relationship exists or it doesn’t.
Commentary by Linda Saxon
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Bullying In Policing Updated
Bullying In Policing was created in 2002 to record an account of Sgt. J. Saxon, Amherstburg Police Service and has been updated.
Accessibility Issues With Candidates’ Websites
Only two registered candidates have listed websites to date and both Lora Petros’ site and Ken Grant’s site have problems with accessibility issues that may present barriers to persons with disabilities.
Twelfth Council Candidate
As of today, Ken Grant makes twelve who would like one of the five seats on council. Full contact details are listed on the town’s website for all candidates. Bios and background information can be found on the left sidebar under the candidates heading at Amherstburg Citizens for Responsible Government (ACRG).
Lack Of Commitment
Commentary by Linda Saxon
As I mentioned in an earlier post, there have been approximately two dozen correspondence items regarding an accessibility policy question to council and the accessibility advisory committee, but my question remains unanswered.
From January to March, I corresponded with council/councillors/staff; in January Deputy Mayor Sutherland forwarded my concern to the Accessibility Committee for their input. At the February 18 council meeting, my correspondence was received.
In March I requested the item be placed on the council agenda, but I never received confirmation that it was.
From April to June, I corresponded with Councillor Bart DiPasquale, who is the council representative on the Amherstburg Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAAC). note: all grammatical errors are his.
Below are DiPasquale’s responses regarding the AAAC meetings:
April 23 – the next AAAC meeting is April 24 2024 (his typo) at 5pm Town Hall. Brenda Percy I found had responded to you March 4 2014 advising you your email had been referred to another person. It appears at this time no one acted on it.
April 24 – tonight’s AAAC meeting has been cancelled and rescheduled for May 8 2014 Town Hall 5pm.
April 26 – the meeting date has been rescheduled for May 15 2014 5pm town hall.
May 15 – In keeping you informed ,todays meeting has been rescheduled to next Thursday 5pm.Your information will be delivered at that time to the AAAC committee by me.
May 15 – Please be abvised that the meeting scheduled for today has been rescheduled toMay 22 2014 5pm Town Hall. Your matter should be discussed on that date.
May 16 – Please be advised that last night’s meeting was rescheduled to May 22 2014 5pm Town Hall.
May 25 – Please be advised that the meeting scheduled for May 22 2014 will be held on June 26 th 2014 5pm Town Hall FYI.
There was no June meeting listed in the River Town Times calendar or on the town’s website.
June 30 – I emailed to request an update following the meeting; I learned that DiPasquale was out of the country. Although he has since returned, I have not received a response.
On June 30, I subsequently emailed council that I would still like an answer.
There were a couple of additional emails, including one on July 1 wherein Councillor Carolyn Davies emailed Nicole Rubli, Could you please look into this licensing question attached below from constituent Linda Sexton.
Also on July 1, Deputy Mayor Ron Sutherland emailed CAO Phipps, Mike, will you respond to Mrs. Saxon or direct her concern to the proper person. Phipps replied, Thanks for the note Ron. I will attempt tomorrow to determine the issue and when Nicole returns from vacation next week, we’ll look into the matter. Perhaps you could or Ms. Saxon could send me her earlier emails. Thanks
July 2, Councillor Diane Pouget emailed, Mrs. Linda Saxon is requesting that her question pertaining to “What policies and procedures are in place regarding accessibility for any and all business license approvals in the Town of Amherstburg,” be placed on the agenda. It is a very straightforward request and I believe it should be dealt with in public session as requested, since Linda’s request for information appeared to be ignored in the past.
July 2, Phipps replied, Deputy Mayor Sutherland has raised this matter as a result of the Saxon email. I understand there has been a response to her, but administration will have all the details for Council next week when Nicole returns from vacation.
July 19, Phipps emailed a summary, prepared by staff, of contact with me, for the record; he ended it by stating that Administration will take no further action on this matter unless it is once again raised at a Council meeting.
I have requested corrections be made, pursuant to the Freedom of Information legislation, as the record contained factual errors and omissions.
After all the attitudinal barriers I’ve encountered, I shouldn’t be surprised that accessibility is not a priority.
Public Meeting A Lynching?
As reported in an August 12 River Town Times article by jcharron:
Council agreed to work with Deloitte and town administration to deal with the implementation of the 41 recommendations. Council will also sit down with Deloitte to discuss the recommendations, one that Brindle suggested should be done in public session. Council members sparred over a second public meeting to discuss the issue with residents with Pouget originally suggesting two weeks, then a month. However, that motion was withdrawn until council has their meeting with Deloitte first.
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea to take it to the people of this town,” said Councillor Bart DiPasquale.
Sutton said his motion to implement the 41 recommendations stood as is with Councillor Carolyn Davies fearing the meeting could devolve into a “pissing match” like the “lynching” at the Essex Power public meeting. Davies said the meeting had to be “thoughtful” with council having to get a better grasp of the report.
Pillon agreed that more time was needed to meet with Deloitte and get a handle on the recommendations.
“You might as well have a meeting that makes sense, not a lynching,” he said.
Province to keep tabs on Amherstburg’s fiscal mess
Doug Schmidt reported in today’s Windsor Star that Ginette Brindle, regional director with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, said, “Our ministry will monitor the actions taken — we’re encouraging them to implement the 41 recommendations.”
Financial Review Complete
A presentation was made at last night’s council meeting and as reported in the Windsor Star, the report was posted on the town’s website today.
From Julie Kotsis’ article: Coun. Diane Pouget wanted to set a date for a meeting to allow the public to comment on the report but withdrew her motion after several councillors said it would take time to digest the report.
Hurst said that first meeting with Deloitte would not be public. But afterward outside council chambers when asked by resident Rick Fryer if the meeting should be public, Brindle said yes.
“I would suggest it would be an open meeting, a public meeting,” Brindle said.
the burg watch 