SWSDA & The Role of Municipalities

-------- Your tax dollars at work ---------

MAKING THE RDA ACCOUNTABLE

The Right Honourable Justice Hood in Her Decision about SWSDA says....

"I conclude that SWSDA is 'under the authority of' the participating municipalities."

For some time now I have argued that municipal councils had a special responsibility to monitor, direct and control SWSDA through the representatives of the Municipality that they appointed to the SWSDA Board.

Let me suggest to you that municipalities have failed in this essential duty of sound governance.

Further.... let me suggest to you that after all of its investigative work, the Ombudsman's office will agree.!

In part, I believe that this failure is caused by ..... the manner in which Board members have been misled into believing that certain information about the inner workings of SWSDA was best kept away from elected municipal councils. I recall Pat Nickerson, Paulette Scott and Raymond Davis claiming that they couldn't share information about SWSDA Board meetings because "they were confidential."

As a result, I believe the pattern shows that:

-  the CEO kept secrets from the Board,

- the Executive of SWSDA kept secrets from the full members of SWSDA,

- the Board members and Mr. Anderson kept information secret from Municipal Councils.....

Resulting in .... the public being kept in the dark and decisions being made on behalf of the municipalities and taxpayers without input from elected officials who are responsible and asked to be accountable to the public.

All this dear Reader to suggest that when municipal representatives get a copy of the the Consultative Report from the Ombudsman's Office, they should ensure that their Councils are consulted about its content before the SWSDA Board  and municipal representatives on the Board respond to the Ombudsman.... which I understand they have to do before January 6, 2010.

What do you think?