-------- Your tax dollars at work ---------
My purpose in starting this blog was to showcase areas of SWSDA 's management that I believed would be enhanced with better management, transparency and accountability. To do so, I've shown samples and highlighted examples of what I view as abuse and improper use of public resources. Unfortunately getting people angry enough to do something about a situation that everyone is ignoring is often the only way to get the proverbial ball rolling. In part that exercise was designed to identify failures in the management of SWSDA and to challenge SWSDA's Board and municipalities to reign in and make accountable SWSDA's Board and staff.... especially Mr. Anderson.
The end result as evidenced by many of the comments postings is shock, outrage and anger against individuals. The need now is to recognize the problems with SWSDA's present governance and lack of public accountability and to move forward with solutions to fix the abuses and poor management while generating efforts to enhance public scrutiny and access to the inner workings of SWSDA.
A LITTLE HISTORY ...... AND ...... READING HANSARD...... in the mid-90s government held public consultations throughout the province. The public then told government that what was needed in rural communities were local organizations who could increase the ability of local groups and individuals in communities to plan, manage and develop themselves. Hence the original concept for RDAs.
RDAs were not to do development ... they were to help local communities to develop their own capacity to develop themselves. If communities needed to learn how to do business plans, RDAs would not do the plans but ensure local communities got the support necessary to learn how to do it themselves. If communities needed to do strategic planning, RDAs were to help them develop the skills and provide the technical assistance to enable residents of local communities to do that.
NOT WHAT WE GOT..... SWSDA does not build local development management capacity.... it stifles it by taking over the job and the associated money to do the work and/or recruit additional resources and then plays ponzi games with the funds behind closed doors with little accountability.
THE RESULT...... Shelburne County has less capacity to manage its own development now than it did 15 years ago.
The annual planning process... undertaken by SWSDA is a farce and produces no additional capacity or opportunity for local involvment in local development. A four hour meeting with two dozen local people "managed" by fifteen SWSDA staff and Board members once a year is simply a sop provided by SWSDA to meet its obligations to ACOA and the Department of Economic Development to "consult" with local communities. Worse still, no analysis is done before hand and shared with local populations and an agenda for discussing intelligently specific areas of interest is never prepared, available or followed. Nor is there any further analysis or planning done after the four hour session that is held once a year.
THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE .... and Shelburne County is not the only one to suffer from this abusive and non-constructive process managed by SWSDA's present crew of Directors and staff.
THE WORK BEING DONE BY EMILY TIPTON IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF SHELBURNE IS MORE LIKE THE EFFORT THAT NEEDS TO BE UNDERTAKEN HERE IF COMMUNITIES ARE SERIOUS ABOUT TAKING CONTROL OF THEIR OWN DEVELOPMENT.
Much more needs to be done by Emily and the community but it is nonetheless a beginning. I hope it won't get side-tracked by those with unfulfilled political ambitions who work for the municipality. I urge the newly elected warden and council of the municipality to keep on working at it..... you are on the right track.
My appeal ... to readers as we move forward is for positive recommendations to fix this broken, sorry excuse for a community development agency called SWSDA.
THE MORE IDEAS THE BETTER..... LET'S HEAR SOME!!
In the meantime I will continue to pepper you with examples of the problems generated by the sorry state of the governance of SWSDA....... I await your thoughtful comments.
Tomorrow I'll be talking about SWSDA's other staff members..... I can hardly wait to tell you stuff......
Ed
Ombudsman Act
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*****TRANSFORMING CLIENTS INTO CITIZENS******
CONCERNED CITIZENS PETITION WORKS!
It took a while but the petition from Concerned Citizens of Shelburne
app...
14 years ago
4 comments:
Okay Mr. Cayer, now that we've been told to tone down the remarks on what appears to be a dysfunctional RDA (geez, you just got us going), we're told Ms. Tipton is on the right path to our salvation.
I've read how after many months of turmoil with the closure of CFB Cornwallis, the commumity pulled together and within 18 mos. was on the road to recovery, with partisan politics off the table.
The protests were over exactly what we are facing now. The agency set up to oversee development of the former Base were holding closed door meetings, many of the agency employees lived away from the community, members of the agency were receiving profits through the agency, and there was little interaction between the agency and the residents of the area.
After the residents organized, major changes were made, and meetings of the incoming RDA were open to the public - they implemented the policy of NO CLOSED DOOR MEETINGS, hence no secrecy or backroom deals.
Is it possible if we divided the current area served by SWSDA into Shelburne Co. and Yarmouth Co./Clare, we might have a better chance at success? That would remove the problem "our" SWSDA voting members are currently facing, as the CEO appears to have the Yarmouth/Clare voting member's approval on all decisions brought to a vote.
Politics is a dirty business, but when partisan politics and closed door meetings are allowed to affect the well-being of a community, it's definitely time for a change.
Let's send Frank to an Anger Management Course and then on to a Conflict Resolution Course, and maybe we might get SWSDA back on the rails again, under the able direction of Ms. Tipton, of course!
I've read the minutes of Team Shelburne's meetings, and it appears to be a very capable group.
Our first goal should be removal of SWSDA's CEO. Mr. Holland, who doesn't have any axes to grind, could fill the position quite capably. It would involve Barrington losing their current Municipal Clerk, but they would gain a feasible RDA; one without rancour, prejudice or distrust.
Ah, it's all a dream isn't it - rats!
I am curious about the role Rod Rose is playing in this affair. As Chairman he isn't looking great. For him to suggest that Darian Huskilson as Treasurer, was overstepping his position when he requested to see Frank's travel expense claims was another RED FLAG moment in SWSDA's history. For Acker, Redding, Halliday and Embree not to speak up in support of Darian's request is mind boggling - lack of support from Yar/Clare members isn't surprising.
Let's hope for Rodney's Waterloo in this upcoming election, as it appears we aren't going to get any help from Murray Scott, Minister of Ec. and Rural Development, on this one.
From, OnlyInNovaScotiaArePeopleAsApathetic
The 10:46 posting forgot to mention the Dep. Mayor of Clarks Hbr., Cecil Brannen. No wonder he was omitted, because we never hear his voice on any SWSDA issues. These board members are all covering their butts and are doing nothing to stop Anderson from running the show. When will this end? Shelburne Co. has 6 of the weakest board members and Anderson doesn't need them with the Yarmouth and Clare quorum siding with his every wish. The treasurer is even in his back pocket now. How do you spell C. O. R. R. U. P. T. I. O. N?
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