Thursday, February 21, 2008

Slings and Arrows

In the past month there have been two letters in the local paper demanding that I resign from city council. The reasoning appears to be that I "may" have been present at confidential council meetings where a "strategy" for dealing with this lawsuit was discussed, and "may" have then somehow breached council confidentiality by sharing this "strategy" at yet another mythological meeting. How two people who aren't on council have determined that there was a confidential meeting where such a strategy was discussed is a mystery to me. If there was such a meeting, and it was confidential, how would they know what was discussed there? Presumably another member of council would have had to breach council confidentiality to tell them this. If there was such a meeting, it was so confidential that I wasn't there.

In any case, (and I'm getting tired of repeating this) - there was no such meeting. There is no strategy. The case is before the courts. It is not a matter for council to discuss and strategize over, and council has no influence on the outcome.

I am a member of council, but that doesn't mean that I have given up my rights as an individual. If I feel that I have not been treated fairly by my employer, I have the right to stand up for myself. I don't have to quit my job to do so. It's similar to the situation of a union employee who files a grievance against their employer - they are not expected to resign while the grievance is being processed. All I want to do is continue to do my job to the best of my ability, while the courts deal with this matter. I thought, and still think, that the open and honest thing to do was to be open about my status in the lawsuit. I thought that this was being more open than waiting until the court case is done, and then (should the lawsuit be successful), accepting the retroactive RRSP contributions.

I find the tactic of using the local paper to discuss this to be quite interesting. Neither individual has contacted me about this issue, either by phone or email. Presumably then, they aren't interested in hearing my viewpoint or having an intelligent discussion on the matter. They would rather just use a public forum to cast aspersions on my character and motivations (and make some rather strange and convoluted assumptions about my pets - for the record, three cats, Hendrix, Hunter and Gracie).

Fortunately other people have been thoughtful enough to call or email or stop me at the grocery store to discuss this and hear my perspective, and pass on their opinions of the letter writers. Interestingly, not one of these people has suggested that I resign. Rather, the conversations tend to end with words of encouragement and support, and I truly appreciate each one.

"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him" - David Brinkley

1 comment:

Ensign said...

well said, Lee!
ignore the busybodies and troublemakers, most people already know that is all that they are!