Sir: Significant kudos go out to both Bruce Corcoran and Robert Hakker for the information that they recently revealed to the taxpayers of Chatham-Kent about the obscene wage and benefit inequities that exist between the private and public sector jobs.
Thank you, Bruce, for calling on our new council to “treat the spending of taxpayer money as if it were their own.” I fully support your call for a benchmarking study that compares the wages and benefits of our local municipal jobs to similar private sector jobs.
Any response from administration that suggests this cannot be done would come as no surprise, given that Chatham-Kent is considered one of the least transparent and most secretive municipalities in all of Ontario, but it would only be an excuse to avoid the truth.
It can be done! This is information that C-K citizens have a right to see, and it is an issue that our new council has a perfect opportunity to add to their clean slate.
As Mr. Corcoran said, our new council needs to put the interests of the people of Chatham-Kent before the wishes of the administration. That is your job!
And so too should the Chatham-Kent Police Board!
In Mr. Corcoran’s Dec. 20 column, “Budget survey? More info, please,” in The Voice, he made mention of municipal staff having use of municipal vehicles for personal use. He asked “for example, why give a manager who makes upwards of $200,000 a year his or her own luxury SUV? Couldn’t a more fuel efficient and lower-priced reliable sedan or smaller SUV do instead?” Unfortunately, little did most readers know that Bruce was not referring to some hypothetical example. Such a situation occurred right here in Chatham-Kent, and recently! Our local C-K Police Board held a session to discuss and propose and approve an upgrade to the police chief’s personal taxpayer funded vehicle from a Ford Explorer, having an MSRP of about $54,000 to a Chevrolet Tahoe having an MSRP of about $73,000.
This, despite the chief’s contract which allows-for and describes allowance only-for a personal taxpayer funded vehicle at a “reasonable cost providing suitable transportation.”
For most hard-working, responsible and logical citizens of Chatham-Kent, the Ford Explorer SUV more than adequately fits that description, especially when you consider that the wage the chief is being paid more than provides him the ability to pay for his own private vehicle!
Who is running this business we call Chatham-Kent? When are we going to see responsible, logical and sustainable decisions being made by the people we vote in and the people we pay (big money) to run this show? Please, council (and others), give us a sign that you have an accountable attitude to your jobs!
Prove to us that you have the backbone, the intestinal fortitude and the “cajones” to change the culture of the politics in this municipality. Citizens of C-K voted for change in November, not just lip-service!
In closing – thank you Robert Hakker for your letter recognizing Mr. Corcoran’s message. I have wanted to do the same since the Dec. 20 edition of The Voice came out, but I was concerned I would be a voice in the desert. I’m glad to know I am not the only one who is tired of the “fox minding the henhouse”.
Rick Youlton
Chatham
