http://www.kelownacapnews.com/ By AlISTAIR WATERS Sep 05 2007
The City of Kelowna doesn’t want you to know how it’s spending your money.
Earlier this year it fired its director of planning, paid her what it called an “amicable and mutually agreeable” severance package and immediately put up a stone wall to keep that information away from the prying eyes of the public. Now it’s hiding behind the contention that releasing information about Mary Pynenburg’s severance package will hurt its negotiating position with another, more junior member of her former planning staff, a man fired after just a few weeks on the job. Despite past rulings by B.C.’s information and privacy commissioner that say the public has a right to know how much public bodies shell out for severance, Kelowna is citing changes to the province’s Financial Information Regulations as one reason to keep Pynenburg’s settlement secret.
The change says the definition of remuneration no longer includes anything payable under a severance agreement when it comes to the annual release of remuneration for top-paid civic bureaucrats. The city is also justifying its refusal to tell you how much it paid Pynenburg to go away by stating it would negatively impact its settlement negotiations with Carlos Felip, who was hired as Pynenburg’s number two at the planning department.The third reason given is that telling you how much of your money is now in Pynenburg’s bank account will somehow divulge employment history information about her. The city’s reluctance to look like it is giving up the information without a fight is understandable. Pynenburg’s lawyers have already forced the city to backtrack on unflattering comments city manager Ron Mattiussi made about her leadership style when he announced her firing.
But the city’s running scared does not excuse its decision to ditch its duty to be accountable to the public and reveal how much the Pynenburg fiasco cost taxpayers.Back in the early 1990s, before Mattiussi was hired as planning director, the city fired his predecessor. The initial answer when that man’s severance settlement was sought was also no. A call to the privacy commissioner and a statement that he had already ruled on the public release of severance payments was enough to get the figure released. And guess what? The amount wasn’t out of the ordinary. That may be the case here. Or it may not.By refusing to reveal the amount, the city is making it look like it has done something worth hiding when, in fact, severance packages are common place, especially for senior bureaucrats.
The planning director’s job at the city is not only one of the most controversial because it deals with both developments themselves and the way the city develops, it also pays one of the highest salaries—in the area of $120,000 per year.Pynenburg wasn’t at the city long enough to be included in the last year’s mandatory statement of remuneration for city officials, so you don’t know how much she was paid last year.And if she and the city have their way, you won’t be finding that out any time soon. How’s that for accountability?
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Don Quixote Note: Makes you remember how NORD reported their "severance agreements" this year.
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