Half the town's office staff has left due to an alleged stressful work environment amidst a lack of formal action regarding a laundry list of complaints against the Town of Athabasca's chief administrative officer. A document dated Jan.
Half the town's office staff has left due to an alleged stressful work environment amidst a lack of formal action regarding a laundry list of complaints against the Town of Athabasca's chief administrative officer.
A document dated Jan. 18 and provided anonymously to the Athabasca Advocate states a list of concerns, noting that they were ìexpressed verbally î to the town's former staff supervisor Melody Wolansky, ìregarding the actions of the CAO. î Three of the town's six employees, including Wolansky have left since it was written.
When the Athabasca Advocate presented some of the claims to the town's CAO Josh Pyrcz, which include manipulating legal opinions to amending bylaws and policies without council approval, he vehemently denied them or explained related policy behind the claim.
Several people, including Mayor Roger Morrill and former recording secretary Iryna Kennedy, have verified that the document is a copy of the one Morrill received on Jan. 18, which became the catalyst for a series of events leading to the motion to kick Morrill and Coun. Tim Verhaeghe off of council.
Town council has not publicly addressed the document or complaints in council chambers.
ìTime is marching on - we're getting on close to three months, î Morrill said in an interview.
ìThis item has never been discussed with administration. This is an in-camera document. This document still does not exist outside of in-camera, as far as I'm concerned. î
Key allegations
The first point in the document alleges that Pyrcz amended bylaws and policies ìwithout taking them to Council for review and approval. î
When asked if he had ever changed a bylaw or a policy without council approval, Pyrcz laughed and said, ìNo. î
The second point speaks to Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater MLA Colin Piquette's ìcheap rent î in the town office building.
Pyrcz said council approved the rental of space -including the price -based on his recommendation.
ìMy job is to bring forward recommendations to council that I feel are beneficial, î he said. ìAnd in this case, with an empty room, this was an opportunity to increase the revenues for the town. î
Pyrcz wrote in a subsequent email that the MLA pays the town $1.00/square foot plus a portion of utilities, noting that Words Works who also rents space pays $1.00/square foot and no portion of utilities.
A local real estate agent who deals in commercial rents and leases said these prices are in line with other offices in Athabasca.
The third point refers to a legal opinion being manipulated by Pyrcz before being forwarded to town council.
In a portion of an interview speaking about legal opinions, he was told he had been accused of changing a message before it went to council. When asked if he had changed any of the content in a legal opinion, he said, ìNo. î
Another point stated that Edmonton Oilers tickets had been donated to the town for a Christmas prize, and he kept them.
When asked if he has accepted any Oilers tickets from people who were making applications to the town or anybody who has been involved with the town, he explained the situation.
ìSo here's how this works in municipal government. So every once in awhile, suppliers will provide things, such as tickets, to the municipality. In the case you're referring to, a request was made for tickets, so that they could be raffled off at our Christmas party as a staff benefit. Unfortunately, they were late. They were late in arriving, and I gave them away Ö I gave them to our public outside services superintendent. Town employee. î
When asked why that person, he said, ìBecause they were going to be in Edmonton at the time, and I wasn't. î
A note in the document states that Pyrcz has told staff he could replace them with contract positions.
When asked if he told people they could be replaced with contract positions, he said ìNo. î
Another point in the document notes that the CAO rents from a councillor, ìwhich causes an intimidated communication process. î
Pyrcz said he is renting a basement from Coun. Shelly Gurba. He would not say how much he pays in rent.
ìI commuted for a month or two while I looked for suitable accommodation, î he said. He also agreed that accommodation was difficult to find at that time.
Another note in the document states that there was a conflict of interest with the CAO joining the fire department and being the one to appoint a fire chief.
ìI've applied to be on the fire department, and I'm currently in training, î he said.
He also said he is the person to appoint a fire chief, but he was not on the department when he appointed that person to the position.
Events leading to vote for disqualification of elected officials
Mayor Morrill said the same document that was delivered to the Advocate was delivered to his dentistry office on Jan. 18.
He said the letter was presented to all of council in camera at the regular town council meeting Jan. 19. He said there were no town administration staff in the meeting when it was presented.
No motions came after the in-camera session Jan. 19, but Morrill said that from the discussion he was given direction, which he says he followed.
The letter was brought up again Feb. 2, and again no town staff were allowed at the in-camera sessions.
ìThat's the meeting of the motions, î Morrill said. ìAnd those motions tell the story. î
According to the meeting minutes, Coun. Verhaeghe made three motions after council went in camera:
ìThat council seek a legal advice (sic). î
ìThat council request a municipal inspection. î
ìThat council hire an HR consultant. î
Each motion was defeated, with only Verhaeghe, Morrill and Coun. Steve Schafer voting for it.
Coun. Joanne Peckham also made a motion: ìThat council turn over documents received with any preference (sic) to CAO Pyrcz in accordance with policy 300-014 with (sic) 48 hours adjournment of this meeting. î The motion was defeated, with only Councillors Peckham, Gurba and Nichole Adams voting for it.
Coun. Tanu Evans motioned after a second, two-minute in-camera session ìthat council direct administration to ignore all items presented at the last in-camera session. î He was the only person to vote for that motion, and it was defeated.
Morrill said that on Feb. 3, he received a phone call at his dentistry practice from former assistant chief administrative officer Wolansky asking him to attend ìan emergent situation î at the town hall.
ìWhen I received the phone call from the then-assistant CAO, definitely, she imparted to me that this was a serious, emergent situation, î he said.
Morrill said he left three patients in their chairs to go up the hill to the town office at 1:15 p.m. On the way, he picked up Coun. Verhaeghe, who was at his law office located next to the town hall.
Morrill said when he arrived, it was ìvery tense. î
ìI would just like to leave it as an emergent situation instead of trying to describe all the details, but I would say at the very least, I could describe it as very tense - in my opinion, it was very tense, î he said. ìI'd rather not comment on the actual situation. î
Wolansky said all staff gathered in the town's chambers, along with Pyrcz, Morrill and Verhaeghe, and she announced that she was quitting.
ìI said, ëI'm in between a rock and a hard place, and I can't help,' î she said. ìI said ëI resign, effective immediately.' î
Morrill said he spoke with her the moment she announced it.
ìIn front of everybody - I think I asked her to give it 24 hours, î he said.
Wolansky handed in a statement about the ìemergent situation î on Feb. 4.
She waited until Feb. 8, the date of the special town council meeting, to hand in her resignation letter.
Morrill said he called that special meeting to discuss that ìemergent situation î at the town office.
Coun. Verhaeghe made a motion at the Feb. 8 meeting, that council should contact the town's lawyer regarding Wolansky's statement, ìas the CAO was intimidating staff. î The motion was defeated, with Councillors Evans, Adams, Peckham and Gurba voting against it.
On Feb. 10, CAO Pyrcz wrote in an email about the motion.
ìIn regard to the motion by Cr. Verhaeghe (sic), I won't comment on any explicit or implicit allegations, î he wrote. ìWhen a workplace goes through a major change, like the loss of a long term staff member, we must be careful that we follow all policies properly and that the process of collaboration between staff and council is maintained. Professionalism is the key to success, not divisive remarks. As with many things, every story has different sides and those will become apparent in due course. My staff have been nothing but professional and supportive - Athabasca is lucky to have them, as am I. We will continue to work to provide quality services to residents and to implement council's direction. î
After that motion, Adams motioned that council find Morrill and Verhaeghe ìliable to the Town of Athabasca î and disqualify them from sitting as elected representatives as per the Municipal Government Act. The motion passed, with votes from Evans, Adams, Gurba and Peckham.
At the next council meeting, Feb. 16, Gurba motioned to remove Morrill and Verhaeghe from all possible boards, committees, societies and commissions. The motion passed with votes from Evans, Adams, Gurba and Peckham. Gurba also motioned that administration should take any necessary steps to prepare and execute an application to the Court of Queen's Bench for the enforcement of the disqualification, and it passed with votes from the same councillors.
Former staff respond
Kennedy, the town's former recording secretary, left her job in March.
She said she did not know when the document was presented to council, as it was presented in camera, but she does know the concerns were brought up to council as a whole.
Kennedy pointed out that the administration committee and council were made up of the same members, a point which Morrill also echoed.
ìWe did express our concerns in that letter, î Kennedy said. ìWe did follow the process. We went to our immediate supervisor - nothing was violated, no policies, nothing Ö Unfortunately, the letter was ignored. Facts and concerns were taken as no merit. Nothing was investigated. And there were clear signs of breaching the in camera, as it was an in camera. Nobody else other than council was supposed to know about this. î
Kennedy emphasized she did not provide the newspaper with the document, but she is happy it went public, noting that ratepayers have a right to know the truth.
ìThe issues haven't been addressed by council, î she said, adding that there is a lot of talk on Facebook and in general about what is going on.
ì(Taxpayers) are still coming to the office, î she said. ìThey are still expecting their service. They are still paying their taxes. And they do need to know the truth and what's going on - how the municipality is being run - because that's the entire purpose of the municipality, the local government, to be accountable to their taxpayers. î
Wolansky, who had worked for the town for 18 years, said she has worked with numerous councils and Pyrcz was her fourth CAO.
ìI've never had those kinds of issues before, î she said.
She also said the document had nothing to do with her. She left her job because of the ìstress and frustration. î
ìThe organizational structure is such that I supervised the office staff, the CAO was my supervisor, so if the staff have concerns with the direction or the processes or the behaviour of the CAO, they would come in and they would advise me of it, î she said. ìNow I can try and discuss those issues with the CAO, but at the end of the day it's his call.
ìAnd - I know - it's kind of a wonky structure. And I have no authority to amend or correct or deny a process, even though I'm their supervisor. î
She noted that a lot of her former staff were employees that had been with the organization for 10 years or more.
ìThey know their jobs, î she said.
She added that she felt that by resigning, she felt council would have to deal with these issues.
ìThe CAO is council's employee, î she said. ìThe entire office staff belong to the organization, and their concerns have to be addressed by the mayor and council - especially if their concerns are connected to the CAO, which is their employee. î
