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- Mayor Jim
Maddin
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- July 16, 2001:
Old corrupt guard rallies anti-Maddin forces for City Council
"showdown": injusticebusters' accusation of
pandering
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Maddin's rebuttal
shows backbone
Randy Burton Straight Talk
column, StarPhoenix, July 19, 2001
The perception abroad in Saskatoon
is that Mayor Jim Maddin is en route to becoming a one-term mayor.
The idea is that the public is so deeply offended, so irrevocably
outraged over the firing of former police chief Dave Scott that
revenge at the polls is inevitable.
Scott's legions of supporters
say they'll see to it that Maddin is turfed if he and the rest
of the police commission don't recant or resign.
They seem to think they're
dealing with a pussycat that's going to roll over and play dead
at the first sign of trouble. Based on Maddin's performance in
his first eight months in office, it's not hard to see why. For
a politician, he is a man of relatively few words, given to one
or two sentence answers to questions that beg paragraphs. As
a result, Maddin often seems tentative in his public pronouncements,
which lends him an air of uncertainty, even when he's sure of
a particular course of action.
Even in announcing the biggest
decision of his tenure to date, Maddin couldn't find the words
to be specific about why Scott was being gunned, helping to create
the surge of opposition to Scott's dismissal.
Under pressure though, it's
a different story. In rebutting the calls for his head Monday
night, Maddin made a detailed and forceful rebuttal in answer
to the various conspiracy theories floating around Scott's demise.
In contrast to the vague generalities
about a vision of community policing he expressed three weeks
ago, Maddin laid out a litany of complaints the police commission
had about Scott's performance.
The picture Maddin paints is
of a chief that either wouldn't take direction or went out of
his way to subvert the will of the police commission. As the
public record shows, if there were issues of budget constraint
to deal with, the first things to go were always community policing
initiatives.
Three different community police
stations failed, the bicycle patrol is scheduled to die at the
end of this year, and nothing was happening on the board's request
for the reinstatement of foot patrols.
The board of police commissioners
wanted new priorities established, a review of existing programs
and resources and ways found to increase the numbers of officers
on the street. What they got back was stonewalling and delay,
Maddin says.
"We had very simple, two-sentence
requests to them that came back to us for further clarification
and it was believed by some members, to be quite honest about
it, that this was an attempt simply to manipulate the board and
to stall.
"The only solution offered
by the administration was a typical response: give us more money,
more money."
Perhaps as damning is the police
services' record on issues of race. Efforts by the board of police
commissioners to get the police involved with the race relations
committee were resisted and neither would it bring in an employment
equity program.
It's no accident then, that
amongst all the character references and testimonials to Scott
we've heard, the voices of prominent Natives have been conspicuous
by their absence.
All of this is taking a toll
on the reputation of the police in the broader community, Maddin
said.
"I am not very proud of
the fact that the city of Saskatoon and the Saskatoon Police
Service is indeed in the microscope by agencies such as the Saskatchewan
Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International. We are on
watch, we have been placed on watch with respect to policing
in our city, and that doesn't please me much, nor the members
of the board," Maddin said.
Maddin also identified a range
of other issues inside the police department, from poor staff
morale, to problems in other areas, including recruitment, promotions
and transfers, and a raft of other things.
The picture that begins to
emerge is of a police service very much in need of a housecleaning.
Since the existing police hierarchy is a reflection of Scott's
personnel choices, it would hardly make sense to have one of
his hand-picked senior administrators handle the broom. An outsider
is the only way to get it done.
By stating his case as plainly
as he has, Maddin has issued an open challenge to his opponents
to take him on. If the mayor's version is not the real story,
then it's incumbent on Scott's forces to come up with a more
credible version of events.
Maddin's speech was one he
should have made three weeks ago, but at least the pussycat is
finally waking up.
Burton can be heard Thursdays
at 9:30 a.m. on CJWW's Let's Talk Saskatchewan.
Atchison targets police commission
By Shannon Boklaschuk of
The StarPhoenix, July 16, 2001
Coun. Don Atchison is asking
his colleagues to tell the board of police commissioners that
council is not confident in the way the board is operating.
"We can't ask them to
step down, but hopefully if council agrees that they're not confident
with them, they would step aside. I have very little confidence
in this board at this particular point in time," Atchison
said.
Atchison said he will put forward
a notice of motion of non-confidence at city council tonight.
He expects it will be voted on at a later council meeting.
"I think that when you
tell the public that you have no direction for the police commission,
(and) you don't know what kind of leader you are looking for,
I think those are really serious things, especially when you
let the former chief go because he didn't have the vision or
direction that you wanted.
"If you haven't got a
vision or direction, how do you know his vision and direction
are not right?" he asked.
Former chief Dave Scott was
fired by the board of police commissioners June 21 on the grounds
that the commission wanted a "new direction for policing."
Some public support has streamed
forth on Scott's behalf as residents demand an explanation for
his firing. More than 30 letters and two petitions with 47 names
have been added to the agenda for tonight's council meeting,
many calling for Mayor Jim Maddin's resignation and that of the
police commission, which he chairs.
Some writers have requested
permission to speak to council.
Patricia Roe, a city councillor
and member of the commission, says while she's not surprised
by the amount of public support for Scott, the commission was
looking out for the best interests of the community when it terminated
his contract.
She says while Saskatoon has
many good community-style policing programs, "they are overlayed
on an old model of policing." Roe says change is necessary
for the city of Saskatoon, and although "it's uncomfortable
. . . that doesn't mean that it doesn't have to be done."
"(Scott's dismissal) was
certainly not done in a vindictive way. We have a job to do and
we were appointed to do a job and we're doing the job the best
we can. And to suggest that we don't care about the community,
that we're not honourable people, is insulting," she said.
"I would hope that people
would give this commission a chance to demonstrate what's possible
before they totally pass judgment on it."
Roe said in an interview Saturday
she's aware Atchison is bringing forth his notice of motion,
and she respects his right to do that.
"I have no animosity towards
him on that score at all," she said.
"He can do that if he
wants, so we'll see what happens."
Coun. Rik Steernberg said he
"fully expected" public support for Scott, but he's
not sure "taking the time up for council to express . .
. appreciation for Dave Scott is an appropriate use of time.
"At this point the only
thing that I have heard is that it's people who know Dave Scott
personally and feel that Dave Scott was a really nice guy and
the police commission shouldn't have done what they did to him,"
he said.
"My personal thought of
that is we're elected to make decisions based upon the business,
not our personal relationships, otherwise what you'd end up seeing
is we'd be hiring all our friends because they're such nice people.
You need to get people that can do the job and can do the job
the way that council and the governing body wishes to see it
done."
Coun. Myles Heidt, a police
commission member, said while he's not surprised people are rallying
to support Scott, the board has "not done anything extraordinary.
"What we're doing is exercising
an option of a contract," he said.
"(But) I think people
have to be noticed. They're showing their loyalty to Mr. Scott
and I would expect nothing differently."
Heidt said despite Atchison's
intent tonight, he will not resign from the board.
"I think (Atchison) would
hope that we would resign if we didn't have at least six votes
supporting us. Boards stay in place from year to year, from Jan.
1 to Dec. 31. If you start tossing out members of the public
whenever you don't get your own way, you're heading down a path
of total destruction," he said.
Councillor
plans non-confidence vote on Saskatoon police commission
Jul 16 2001 7:19 PM EDT
SASKATOON - The
controversy surrounding Saskatoon's Police Chief continues.
"I want the media there
and the public to se it on TV and to see what each and every
person believes, publicly, not privately" ...Don Atcheson
It's been three weeks since the board of police commissioners
fired former chief David Scott.
City Councillor Don Atcheson
is planning a motion of non-confidence in the board of police
commissioners at Monday's council meeting.
He says the commission says
it let Scott go because he didn't share the commission's vision
of community policing. Atcheson says he's yet to see or hear
what the Board's vision is.
He expects debate on his motion
will be delayed until council's August meeting.
Atcheson says he doesn't care
when the issue is debated as long as it is dealt with in public.
"I don't want this matter to go back into an in-camera session
where the commission and city council meet and discuss it behind
closed doors", says Atecheson. "I want the media there
and the public to see it on TV and to see what each and every
person believes publicly not privately."
Meanwhile at least one petition
is circulating in Saskatoon calling for Scott's re-instatement
and the resignation of Mayor Jim Madden.
Saskatoon lynch mob: Just the story to sell papers
during a boring summer
Mayor defiant
about firing
Record crowd
demands detailed explanation of police chief's dismissal
By Kim McNairn of The StarPhoenix,
July 17, 2001
Mayor Jim Maddin staunchly
defended the Saskatoon police commission's decision to take down
the city's former police chief - even after enduring an hour-long
siege of protest from a record crowd that packed city council
chambers Monday night.
Amid calls for the resignation
of the commission, a public inquiry into the termination of Dave
Scott's contract, and warnings of voter revolt next civic election,
Maddin tried to provide more details on why the commission three
weeks ago voted unanimously to ask Scott to leave.
It all comes down to resistance,
he said - resistance by the former chief to respect community
programming, to listen to the board's priorities and implement
them, to put a police member on the race relations committee
until the hour before he was dismissed, to implement a long-term
strategic plan, to support a new employment equity policy, and
to look internally at priorities to find more money for officers
on the street.
"We wanted more visibility
of the bicycle patrol. . . . At the end of this bicycle season
the bicycle patrol has been ordered disbanded. That is one example
of the type of resistance this board has encountered," Maddin
told the crowd. "Not only do we encounter this resistance,
it is also accompanied by subtle and not-so-subtle suggestions
that the only way that this police administration can accommodate
the board's request is to remove the programs or look at staff
layoffs. That is something this board is not going to tolerate."
But his answers did little
to quell the rage of residents who came to council wanting what
one speaker described as the "real answers" behind
Scott's dismissal.
More than 300 people crammed
into the muggy council chambers and overflowed into the City
Hall lobby, nearly all applauding at any mention of the commission's
decision being a poor one.
The policing issue was moved
ahead on the agenda because of the number of people who showed
up. There was nearly double the number allowed by fire regulations.
Russel Marcoux, a supporter
of Scott, said after Maddin's remarks that he was still left
without the detailed answer he wanted.
In front of council, Marcoux
told commissioners that that they should be embarrassed and ashamed
of their decision to dismiss Scott.
"It is time to cut out
the rhetoric and double speak and give us, the citizens of Saskatoon,
some solid rationale to your actions.
"To date your rationale
is wrong. The process is wrong. And to put it bluntly, you blew
it," he said, his voice muted by the cheers from the crowd.
Coun. Don Atchison introduced a motion on Monday night asking
that the commission membership - except for the mayor - be replaced.
(The mayor's position is provincially legislated.)
Councillors had to vote unanimously
to waive the normal one-meeting delay before such a motion would
be voted on officially.
Councillors Tiffany Paulsen,
Patricia Roe, Lenore Swystun, Myles Heidt and Rik Steernberg
and Mayor Maddin wanted to push the motion up. (Roe and Heidt
are also on the commission.)
Atchison, Kate Waygood, Peter
McCann, Owen Fortosky and Glen Penner stopped that from happening
by opting for a one-month wait to allow for more reflection on
what could be a legally complicated decision.
Don Funk, another Scott supporter,
told councillors they will be judged by how they vote on that
motion.
"Those who are responsible
for this heinous act will be judged by the community. For the
councillors who do support this action, I support you and applaud
you along with citizens of this community. For those who don't
support it, you will be responsible to explain your actions at
the next election," said Funk.
Maddin himself reminded the
crowd of what happened during the last civic election just nine
months ago. He was elected on a platform of change to both how
City Hall and the police service operate.
"What we have in Saskatoon
is essentially a traditional policing model with programming
layered on top of it - sensitive community programs," said
Maddin.
Just what the police commission's
community policing model looks like is still vague, and Maddin
makes no apologies for that. He earned his own smaller round
of applause for saying the board is committed to moving forward
on defining what community policing means to the commission and
to Saskatoon. "It just doesn't appear one day suddenly on
a piece of paper - this is where we were, this is where we want
to be and this is how we want to get there."
Police service
member applauds chief's dismissal
Time to
change `Old Boys club,' special constable says
By Kim McNairn
of The StarPhoenix, July 17, 2001
The Saskatoon Board of Police
Commissioners made a "wise move" to terminate Dave
Scott's contract because the former police chief was not a great
leader, says a member of the police service.
Special Const. Renee Reimer
Horner, who has worked for the police service for six years,
said she hopes the dismissal will also spur the elimination of
what she describes as the Old Boys network and top-down attitudes
at the department.
"Saskatoon needs change.
We need change in leadership. We need change in administration.
There needs to be policy changes implemented that are more community
related with better community ties," said Reimer Horner
in an interview Monday.
"It's all the Old Boys
club. It's time for a change."
She said she decided to speak
out after becoming frustrated with hearing over and over in the
media from Scott's supporters, who have insisted terminating
his contract was unjustified. Reimer Horner, who has worked with
the detention arm of the service but is currently on leave, recently
sent a letter to The StarPhoenix to put her opinion on the record.
"Thirty-two years on the
job does not make you a qualified chief nor necessarily a good
leader, it just means that you were able to convince a hiring
board whom you had established friendships with and business
contacts, that you were the best person for the job," she
wrote.
"The police will continue
to do their jobs with or without a different chief. Step out
gracefully Dave and enjoy your retirement."
Opinions in police circles
vary widely, she said in an interview, from people who are disappointed
with Scott's dismissal, to those who are relieved - along with
those who could care less.
"There are a lot of people
who think that change is good. Maybe he's a nice person, but
it's time for change."
The curtailing of the popular
bike patrol program, planned for the end of the summer, is one
indication of the need for new leadership, she said.
Earlier this year, the police
commission refused Scott's request for a $300,000 boost to his
budget to cover some new programs and maintain existing services.
To reduce costs, Scott cut some programs, including the bike
patrol.
According to budget documents,
the police would save $21,220 by taking the bikes off the street
and reallocating staff. Some resources for the program were donated.
Reimer Horner said Scott undermined
the police commission's philosophy for more community policing.
"(The bike section) was
just so effective. That is the thing about community policing
- they (the commissioners) want effective community policing.
The bike (section) goes to the Teddy Bear Picnic or Diefenbaker
Park - they can go anywhere plus they can be used for regular
duties," said Reimer Horner, whose husband is on the bike
patrol.
Scott has said in order to
maintain basic police operations, including responding to calls,
some community programming had to be reduced. The commission
terminated Scott's contract about three weeks ago, explaining
his vision of community policing did not match its own.
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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