DRYDEN — Dryden's chief administrative officer is expressing concern about what he called borderline harassment and bullying of city staff during a recent committee meeting.
At the meeting on Oct. 11, council discussed motions addressing the amount of hostility from the public toward city staff who were tasked to provide the committee with the information that was requested.
CAO Roger Nesbitt called the motion necessary to protect the safety and well-being of city staff who have been targeted by hostile members of the public and committee members.
“At the last committee meeting, the line of questioning and comments made pertaining to how our employees were basically doing their jobs pertaining to delegation requests coming to the committee,” Nesbitt said.
“The line of questioning taken by a couple of the committee members and the comments from committee members insinuating that our staff members were treating certain parties with a bias mainly towards the support of this [deep geological repository] project. The line of questioning and comments really forced our staff to move into defensive mode and this was all during a recorded public meeting.”
With the municipal election coming on Oct. 24, Dryden’s current council decided to dissolve their nuclear education and engagement committee until such time that the newly elected council decides if a committee is necessary. The Nuclear Waste Management organization is considering a site about 40 kilometres from the city for its deep geological repository.
Nesbitt said that the comments made during the education and engagement committee meeting on Sept. 20 were borderline harassment and bullying of municipal staff. He also reveals that certain members of opposition groups to the DGR project have been targeting him on social media.
“I would be extremely concerned if those personal attacks on employees were allowed to leak into committee and council meetings because those committee meetings are our employee’s workplace,” said Nesbitt. “I think council has a significant degree of responsibility to ensure that employees are protected from those types of unfounded attacks.”
Nesbitt said that attacks on employees about having a bias towards the Nuclear Waste Management Organization and the DRG project constituted"completely unjustified and unfounded personal attack that is being launched through social media at some of our employees.”
According to Nesbitt, the point of the nuclear education and engagement committee was designed to provide “factual and creditable educational resources to the public.”
Coun. Shayne MacKinnon supported Nesbitt's comments.
“I couldn’t agree more," MacKinnon said. "I think our staff are not there to be abused or to be looked at as taking one side or the other."
MacKinnon, who is running for mayor, acknowledged the importance of ensuring that Dryden’s residents have the opportunity to make a creditable informed decision on the repository project. MacKinnon will be open to reintroducing the committee if elected, he added.
Coun. John Carlucci suggested that if the next council reintroduces the committee that it shouldn’t be an open format, but one that is guided by council.
“I’ve seen that involvement and I’ve seen the direction it was going and I didn’t like it, so I would really highly recommend that future council make it a council decision,” said Carlucci.
Coun. Norm Bush expressed his disappointment with the personal attacks on municipal staff.
“We worked very hard to be transparent, which is why we formed that committee,” said Bush.
“We did it on the basis of non-biased. I don’t know anybody personally that has made their mind up for it, although I keep here people saying there is a whole bunch of people for it. I have yet to meet one. I know there is a bunch of people against it. Unfortunately, it seems to have become very positional and it doesn’t appear to be objective, and I am not in favour of continuing it under its current format given the abuse our staff feel they have been subjected to.”
Bush acknowledged that the committee and staff did a great job organizing Dryden’s nuclear symposium last month.
On the nuclear symposium topic, Coun. Michelle Price reflected on the negative public comments that she heard about from staff.
“What is was told was very disturbing,” said Price. “I just want to remind our community to be kind and more understanding of the position within the city because the false statements being put out there are not right. It’s presumptuous and it’s very concerning to me. Our employees are under the direction of the city, therefore, comments and concerns, they should actually be made to the city so that they can be responded to in a professional manner.”
Price expressed that social media isn’t a place where the residents of Dryden can voice their concerns to their elected officials. The municipality website hosts each council member’s contact information which residents can utilize to bring forth their positions on various topics, including the proposed project.
