Tag Archives: amherstburg

Town council asks for report on employees’ qualifications

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In a River Town Times article by Ron Giofu, “Town council agreed via a 4-3 vote to get details on employees hired and moved by former CAO Mike Phipps, pending a legal opinion, but there are also questions over if that will put the town in legal jeopardy.”

The town’s Hiring of Employees policy, one of the policies former CAO Phipps would not provide without “a reasonable explanation for the request,” can now be found on the town’s website and CAO Miceli did provide it.

The 2007 policy currently states, “The Town shall provide accommodation for persons with disabilities who become employees of the Corporation.”

An updated policy is needed to reflect the passage of the 2005 AODA, the IASR (Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation) and the town’s 2013 IASR Policy to include the requirement to notify its employees and the public about the availability of accommodation for applicants with disabilities in its recruitment processes.

Is $12,000.00 On Law Firm Well Spent?

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The River Town Times reports that “Town council has approved spending $12,000 in the fight to preserve General Amherst High School by hiring a local law firm.

The development of the plan will include stakeholder and partner consultation which will include the Council of the Town of Amherstburg.

Mayor Aldo DiCarlo was the lone dissenter, but said it had nothing to do with Leardi or his firm. He feels council is “passing the buck” on the matter and that it is that body that should be dealing with it directly.”

Poll will close in one week. The usual disclaimer applies – it’s not science; it’s entertainment.

 

Toronto can’t afford another sweetheart deal with its police union

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According to The Star’s editorial on policing costs in Toronto, “The base salary for a first-class constable is now more than $90,000. But there’s more. Officers enjoy perks exceedingly rare in the private sector, including permission to bank up to 18 sick days a year and cash them out for tens of thousands of dollars; lavish “retention pay” bonuses; city-funded massages, and even having taxpayers cover the cost of doing their laundry.

Salaries and benefits gobble up 90 per cent of Toronto’s $1.15-billion police budget. And they’ve frankly become unaffordable, especially in light of falling crime rates across North America.”

Comment by Linda Saxon: fortunately, Amherstburg Police Service is one of those rare services in Ontario that did not negotiate ‘retention pay;’ it would have cost the taxpayers more, but nowhere near what the feared OPP takeover clause has cost us – an estimated million dollars a year to ‘keep it local.’

Town council to seek RFP for legal services

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Town Council has examined legal fees of $1.4 million from 2010-14 and has decided to seek an RFP (request for proposal). The legal fees for the Amherstburg Police have not been mentioned; as previously noted, Amherstburg Police Chief Tim Berthiaume stated, “the amherstburg police service does not ‘breakdown’ legal expenses.” As inevitably happens in a small town, there is a rumour that a certain ‘local lawyer’ is in a favourable position. River Town Times full article.