By Pepper Parr
November 5th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
They come and they go.
The people who run the city are people we rely upon to come up with the solutions to solve the problems.
In the five years the Gazette has been reporting on this city we have seen four city managers. Currently James Ridge, a former Canadian army veteran who served in the Military Police.
City manager James Ridge
There was a point when the city had three General Managers who reported to the city manager. That level of management no longer exists and the city manager has a team of Directors who meet with Ridge as part of what he calls his Leadership Team.
And as long as you do things the way Ridge wants you to do them – you get to stay on the team.
Retiring Director of Transit Mike Spicer on the left attends a community meeting with city manager James Ridge. One of these two is not a happy camper.
Mike Spicer, Director of Transit will be leaving the tram November 18th.
The Gazette got a note from a reader who brought Spicer’s resignation to our attention. It took a few days to get comment from Spicer who we found to be usually available for comment.
We asked Spicer if there was any truth to the rumour we received.
Here is the flow of the conversation:
Gazette: Got a note from someone saying you had been shown the door.
Spicer: I was not shown the door. I resigned. Last day is November 18th.
Gazette: Where are you going and what are you going to do next?
Spicer: Seeking new opportunities, don’t have anything concrete at this moment but am looking at a few opportunities.
Mayor Goldring reading a transit app on his cell phone. To his left is Joey Edwardth of Community Development Halton and Doug Brown – the guy who knows more about transit in the city than anyone else. He seldom gets a call.
Good luck to Mike. He had a difficult job – he was expected to provide a transit service without the funds he needed and the full support of city council.
He did slip up on a number of occasions – failing to attend meetings that were put on by transit service advocates was a killer.
Mike Spicer was one of the worst transit directors Burlington has ever had. If you talked to any other transit director/planner about the changes that have been made since 2012 they would look at you and ask what the hell is going on. Burlington Transit has had a 15% decrease in revenue ridership since 2012 due to all the changes, service decreases and fare hikes. City Council does not make matters better on the transit front however, he should have been walked out months ago after several investigations about harassment in his department and his role in which he allegedly participated in said harassment. Spicer did not advocate for better transit and did not consult the public before making the extensive changes that Burlington Transit has gone through. The only time he did consult was in regards to the route 6 and spent $50,000 on a outside consultant to look at options (without telling anyone) and at the end there were no changes made. No I am not sad Mr Spicer is leaving and I can only hope that as Burlington goes on with its New Transportation Directions, they hire someone with proper knowledge and the ability to push for a proper transit system that Burlington deserves.
Interesting how an article about Mike Spicer turned into a rant about Chris Glenn. Comments should be limited to the article and not an open form for out of touch individuals who remain nameless.
Editor’s note: Nope, they can say whatever they like – try to keep it civil – but move to whatever bothers you.
“Comments should be limited to …” – you must have experience delegating before Council ;-}
So, Spicer gets 86’d for missing a couple of scheduled meetings with transit advocates and can’t seem to operate a “transit” system that nobody really seems ride other than the Mon-Fri commuter users?
Contrast this with the actions of the self-styled Czar of Parks and Recreation Chris Glenn, who can schedule ten meetings with our Seniors to work out a new MOU for the operation of programs and services at the Senior’s Centre, and then subsequently turns around a cancels each meeting one by one.
In addition, he can’t even deliver timely reports to council on the state and condition of our outdoor sports fields (report initially requested at Council meeting in January, 2016 by Councillor J. Taylor. Glenn “couldn’t possibly deliver such a detailed report” before the requested June 2016 due date, but offers up a August 2016 date which takes into consideration “summer vacations”. He misses that alternate date, and at the Council meeting held this past Monday advises that now his report won’t be ready until December. (City Manager James Ridge interjects and adds that “it is a detailed, comprehensive report”, and that he is impressed with the work he has seen so far).
About the only sign of work I’ve seen so far, is that Glenn is no longer referring to sports fields as “A”, “B” and “C” surfaces, but rather as “large”, “artificial”, and “mini”.
That, and the way he has mis-handled the Seniors and the renewal of the MOU for the Seniors Centre.
Glenn seems to be building a fiefdom for himself at city hall. He forgets that he is a pubic servant, and that the facilities under his direct supervision are not his personally, but rather they are the collective assets of Burlington residents. Or put another way, each and every ratepayer in Burlington… Seniors included.
Don’t mistreat the hand that ultimately feeds you Mr. Glenn or you just might find yourself sitting on the next bus departing from City Hall.
It seems every week some senior manager leaves. The mayor and councilors better have a hard look in the mirror. I am sure all these people that have left were not incompetent, so what is the factor that pushes these people out even without a new job to go to.
I know our councilors have their own agendas and the hell with what the majority of citizens want or is practical. Will be interesting to see how things plays out in the USA on Tuesday, we already saw it in the UK, maybe Burlington will be next.