One of the 11 people running for mayor in the city of Greater Sudbury is accusing some current council members of bullying city staff so they can look effective to their constituents and further their political goals.
And Bill Crumplin said Aug. 24 if he’s elected he’ll put a stop to it.
“In my private conversations with municipal workers, it's come to my attention that all is not well at city hall,” he said in a news release. “Increasingly, staff is coming under pressure from individual members of council to take actions that require them to abandon public priorities.
I know that as mayor, council as a whole has the obligation to direct staff through the city's CAO. As mayor, I will not tolerate individual members of council tying up staff resources with one-off directions – especially during a municipal election campaign.”
Crumplin suggested this practice amounts to workplace harassment.
“Labour rights are human rights – that's the starting point for me in any conversation about the rights of workers,” says Crumplin. “Our municipal staff, both unionized and non-unionized, are some of the best in the province. I know that saying so might not resonate with voters or some of the other candidates running for the city's top job, who have made dumping on municipal staff a part of their election strategy, but it needs to be said. I have nothing but respect for staff and the services that they provide to the public via council's direction.”
He also said this political queue-jumping damages the smooth functioning of the bureaucracy.
“I understand that a constituent who has an immediate problem that needs to be addressed is likely to see the benefit of a council member directing staff to take action,” Crumplin said. “But these actions sacrifice the key priorities of our citizens. Having staff jump to address these one-off issues means that they're less available to do the work council has directed them to do.”
What’s more, he said city councilors aren’t hiding what they’re doing, criticizing Mayor Brian Bigger for allowing the practice to occur without consequence.
“We have members of council who are openly bragging about this practice on social media, and yet the head of council (or chief executive officer, a.k.a. the mayor) has said nothing about reigning in members of council who are in my opinion abusing council / staff relationships.”
Crumplin’s electoral Facebook page can be found here.
