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- Fraud
in Social Services
| Evelyn Hynes
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- Saskatchewan
graft
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Davidson taxpayers grill
board
Lana Haight, The StarPhoenix,
February 10, 2005
DAVIDSON -- Frustrated taxpayers
in the Davidson school division packed the town hall Wednesday
evening demanding answers about how a senior administrator was
paid $120,000 to retire only to be re-hired.
"We are the laughingstock
of this province for handing out the money," said Steve
Prpich of Kenaston.
The Davidson school board was
forced to call Wednesday's public meeting after it received a
petition signed by about 140 taxpayers. According to provincial
law, the board is required to call a public meeting if 25 taxpayers
sign such a petition. Several items of discussion was on the
agenda but top-of-mind for most was the controversial "retirement
gratuity" paid to secretary-treasurer Jeff Alexander.
In June, the school board passed
motions accepting the retirement of Alexander, paying him a $120,000
"retirement gratuity," as the board called it, and
rehiring him as a contract employee doing the same job he had
been performing as a permanent employee.
More than 200 taxpayers attended
the meeting where board members and director of education Jeff
Finell were peppered with questions about the deal. Alexander
was not at the meeting.
Finell and board chair Ross
Kadlec maintained the "retirement gratuity" was a prudent
fiscal decision.
They pointed to Alexander's
contract that included a clause entitling him to one month's
salary for each of the 32 years that he'd worked for the division
as a severance payment if his position was terminated.
Kadlec told those at the meeting
that Alexander approached the board last year with his concern
that he would not have a job when Davidson school division amalgamates
with another board as mandated by the provincial government.
Alexander told the board that in that event, he would be entitled
to about $211,000 in severance to be paid by Davidson school
division. Kadlec explained at the meeting that Alexander proposed
he take a smaller pay-out of $120,000, retire and then be re-hired
under contract to continue working as the secretary-treasurer.
"We felt if we could save
the division hundreds and some thousands of dollars that that
would be a prudent thing to do," said Kadlec.
But those who spoke at the
meeting disagreed.
"If someone is willing
to take 50 cents on the dollar then maybe they're entitled to
nothing," commented one.
"If I saw the end was
coming, I would take what I could get too," added another.
Several people wanted clarification
on the phrase "retirement gratuity." And they questioned
why Alexander's severance clause took effect when he retired.
"This wasn't something
contractual," said Dellene Church of Davidson. "Instead
of giving Jeff (Alexander) his retirement and a gold watch, we
gave him $120,000."
Kadlec said Alexander would
not have retired if he wasn't awarded the "retirement gratuity."
He would have continued as an employee of the school division
until amalgamation took effect. Because Alexander is a contract
and not a salaried employee, the division has saved $14,000 in
benefits, added Kadlec.
And Finell said Alexander's
32 years of experience will prove to be invaluable during the
time of transition of amalgamating with another board.
"They could have gone
cheap (in replacing Alexander with someone with less experience)
but they would have got cheap. I think they're getting good value
for their dollar," said Finell.
Another point of contention
for those at the meeting was how minutes from the June board
meeting were altered. Alexander has admitted he deleted the motions
that related to his retirement and "gratuity" when
he provided a copy to a taxpayer this fall.
"At this point, it's in
the realm of misunderstanding," said Finell when asked if
it was legal or illegal to edit public meeting minutes.
While one of the items on Wednesday
night's agenda was the contracts of the secretary-treasurer as
well as the director of education, neither was discussed.
"We will not be distributing
copies of the contract here nor will we be discussing contents
of the contracts," said Finell.
He said if people really wanted
to see the contracts, they would have to come to the division
office and request to view them. When asked if he would publish
the contracts in the local newspaper, Finell said, "In a
word, no."
He added that he wasn't anticipating
any other "retirement gratuities" for other school
administrators.
Several motions passed by the
taxpayers will be discussed at the school board's next regular
meeting on Feb. 16. One of the motions calls for the board members
who approved of Alexander's payment to pay for it themselves
by reimbursing the school division.
Kadlec doesn't expect that
motion to pass at the board.
"I would never vote in
favour of that," said Kadlec in an interview after the meeting.
As chair he only votes when there is a tie.
"I would never put up
the money. If we had done something illegal, I'd say, 'Yes.'
Or if we had done something that was wrong, I'd say, 'Yes,' but
we didn't."
The man who spearheaded the
petition-drive that forced the meeting was disappointed with
how school officials continued to justify Alexander's payment.
"There were questions
that weren't answered. They answered some of them. Some of (the
answers) were a little hazy," said Robert McJannet after
the meeting.
- "At least they showed
up, that's one thing. They showed their faces," he said
adding he would have liked to have put them on the "hot
seat" by challenging the answers they gave but the rules
of the meeting didn't allow it.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
Official hid severance
ratepayer: School board motions approving 'gratuity' deleted
Lana Haight, The StarPhoenix,
December 24, 2004
A Davidson school administrator
who collected a controversial $120,000 "retirement gratuity"
admits he deleted motions approving the payment in a copy of
meeting minutes he gave to a taxpayer.
"This should raise everybody's
concerns," said Robert McJannet, who farms near Davidson,
south of Saskatoon.
McJannet has two versions of
minutes from a June 16 meeting when the Davidson school board
passed motions accepting the retirement of secretary-treasurer
Jeff Alexander, paying him a $120,000 "retirement gratuity,"
as the board called it, and re-hiring him as a contract employee
doing the same job he had been performing as a permanent employee.
Trustees also passed a motion
approving a formula for severance packages for central office
staff who don't accept jobs when the school division amalgamates
with another board.
All four motions were deleted
from the first copy of the June minutes given to McJannet in
October.
"They just don't want
the public to know as far as I'm concerned. I can't understand
both scenarios -- why they gave (Alexander) the money and why
they altered the minutes," said McJannet.
"If they're willing to
hide this stuff, what else are they hiding and what else have
they hid?"
McJannet requested that Alexander
give him copies of the minutes from the board meetings held between
March and September after he had been speaking with trustee Diane
Taylor about needing new basketball equipment at the local high
school. McJannet says Taylor told him that there was no money
for the equipment and that if he wanted to know where the money
went, he should look at the minutes.
MINUTES INCOMPLETE
McJannet went through the minutes
and didn't initially find anything unusual. He discovered his
copy was not complete when he went back to Taylor. He has since
obtained an unedited version of the minutes from Alexander.
"The night I found out
that my minutes were altered, I phoned the secretary-treasurer
and asked him why he was doing this. If he's willing to take
$120,000, he should be able to walk down the street," said
McJannet.
Alexander says there was a
misunderstanding and he thought McJannet wanted minutes with
motions relating to basketball equipment. While he admits he
deleted the motions dealing with his retirement payment and his
new contract, as well as the severance packages for office staff
members, he doesn't apologize for doing it.
"Things were taken out
about kids and personnel for all of those minutes (McJannet requested),
not just (minutes from) June," said Alexander.
But all the other motions passed
in June dealing with personnel matters such as leave requests,
transfers, hirings and the resignation of three teachers were
left in the minutes.
Alexander denies he removed
motions pertaining to his retirement to hide his $120,000 payment
from taxpayers.
He refused to say if he believes
he did the right thing by deleting some motions from the public
minutes.
"What's done is done,"
he said.
But a University of Saskatchewan
education professor says motions dealing with the comings and
goings of employees must be made during public meetings and those
motions must be recorded in public minutes.
"Minutes literally are
a record, presumably approved, of what happened in a public meeting
and for the very purpose not just of tracking actions internally
but also providing public accountability for the decisions that
have been made," said professor Keith Walker.
"You can revisit items
but if it's been approved, it's not up to an administrator to
go and change what has been approved by the board. You just don't
do that. If it's minuted and approved, that's the way it is."
Earlier this month, the Davidson
school board turned down a request by McJannet to hold a public
meeting to discuss Alexander's retirement payment and the altered
minutes. Undeterred, McJannet is collecting signatures of ratepayers
to force a meeting in the new year.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
