City Council doesn't seem to be getting a full picture on a number of issues within City Hall.
Far be it from me to try and rival what Tsakumis is doing with this story, because his investigation over the past month and a half has been quite extensive.
For those unfamiliar with the issue, here is the Vancouver Courier’s Allen Garr and his account of the situation.
But in the vein of last week’s Vancouver Sun column, I am specifically interested in the January 21 in-camera City Council meeting that notified Council of Tsisserev’s departure and suggested Will Johnston, former Chief Building Official, as his replacement.
More specifically, I want to know what city staff conveyed to the electeds.
As we all know, Councillor Geoff Meggs is at home recovering from terrible accident.
However, I plan on speaking to him directly in the coming days to figure out whether Council was told of Tsisserev’s “retirement” or of his dismissal.
My initial suspicions are that city staff didn’t give Council the full story to Council, and indeed portrayed Tsisserev’s departure as voluntary. Thus, there was no need for Council to question the suggestion of Johnston as anything but above board.
In watching and listening to the interviews Mayor Gregor Robertson has done, it is clear that he is unsure of the real story, and that has everything to do with the information provided by staff rather than deliberate attempts to mislead.
There is a growing body of suspicion about the way in which city staff are interacting with our democratically elected officials, and that should be a huge concern for all Vancouverites.
I heard that my column last week ruffled quite a few feathers internally last week, as indignation spread amongst those readers who felt that questioning their motivations and God complexes (the story I continue to hear is that top city bureaucrats regularly refer to the Councillors and Mayor as “hired help) is out of line.
Au contraire…something has got to give. And this latest affair might very well be the straw the broke the proverbial camel’s back.
