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February
14, 2004
THE FIRING OF THE CITY MANAGER BY MAYOR DiIANNI
The
lead editorial in Friday’s (Feb.13) Hamilton Spectator
says that “Mayor Larry Di Ianni has demonstrated considerable
leadership” in firing Bob Robertson “in the aftermath
of a series of mis-steps on the city manager's part.”
However, the newspaper doesn’t tell us what these “mis-steps”
were. On the contrary, a news article in the same notes
that Robertson got the maximum possible bonus for his work
for the City last year.
We
are left to guess what the Spectator and DiIanni consider
to be Mr. Robertson’s “mis-steps”. Here’s
a few possibilities:
- Robertson
thinks the Red Hill expressway is unaffordable.
On January 31, the Spectator reported that senior city
staff were telling councillors that the Red Hill Creek
Expressway is unaffordable. Robertson didn’t contradict
this. A week later, the City Treasurer said that all the
City’s schemes “are unaffordable at this time”.
Honesty may not be the safest policy for city staff when
it comes to the expressway. The last City Manager that
got fired (Doug Lychak) also disagreed with the expressway
project. DiIanni and the Spectator are both strongly pro-expressway.
- Robertson
refused to take the rap for DiIanni’s conflict of
interest.
DiIanni and his chief aide Mario Joanette arranged two
$10,000 contracts to the consulting company of Joanette’s
wife, and then got Robertson to sign off on the contracts.
Joanette said Robertson knew about the conflict and DiIanni
suggested Robertson likely knew. Robertson contradicted
them publicly.
- DiIanni
and Robertson strongly disagree on sprawl.
Robertson and other senior City staff have repeatedly
pointed out that the City loses money every time a new
house is built on the outskirts of the City. Last summer
DiIanni publicly disagreed with Robertson on this issue.
It is well-known that DiIanni was strongly supported by
big Hamilton developers. The Spectator is a “platinum
partner” of the Hamilton-Halton Home Builders Association.
- DiIanni
thinks Robertson is too candid.
There was a public spat between DiIanni and Robertson
last summer. Robertson had told the media that he was
concerned about millions of dollars in spending that wasn’t
subject to proper council oversight. DiIanni blasted him
for saying this publicly. During the same period, the
auditors sharply criticized the city audit committee for
not properly overseeing spending. DiIanni was one of four
members of that committee. The Spectator ‘forgot’
about this when it decided to back DiIanni in the election.
- DiIanni
and Robertson disagree on the budget.
City staff appear determined to end the practice of passing
an apparently balanced budget that results in $25 million
plus deficits at the end of the year. It is curious that
the fire chief has been named as Robertson’s replacement.
When the last City Manager was fired, the acting manager
job was given to Joe Rinaldo, the City Treasurer. Rinaldo
is still the Treasurer and a logical choice, but didn’t
get the nod. The draft budget promises a “Decision
Package” of proposed cuts “by the third week
in January”. It hasn’t appeared, suggesting
that there are disagreements on how to proceed.
The
dumping of the city manager is further evidence of the deepening
crisis at City Hall. More than three dozen senior staff
have left the City in the past year for new jobs. Major
defections in the past few months include the budget chief,
the city solicitor, and the directors of facilities and
fleets, and water and wastewater. The budget crisis remains
unresolved, and the City’s economy continues to rapidly
deteriorate.
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