The writer makes the point that Mayor Atwell didn’t set the departed Chief Administrative Officer’s very generous terms of severance, which is true enough.
But as incoming mayor, these terms should have been taken into consideration before ousting him. One wonders if that happened, or if other motives overrode.
The writer also questions whether or not the CAO would strive to meet the incoming mayor’s campaign promises.
We’ll never know, because he was never given the chance to prove or disprove his willingness; he was summarily dismissed before the mayor even took office.
The new CAO will labour under the knowledge that he’d better please Mayor Atwell, or he, too, will be shown the door.
If he knows which side his bread’s buttered on, compliance with the mayor’s wishes will be the order of the day.
That’s a consequence to Saanich’s taxpayers that could prove a lot more expensive than half a million dollars.
Lorraine Lindsay
Saanich