Stouffville residents raise alarm over ‘CSI-style’ wall
Discovery of display in mayor’s office washroom sparks complaint to integrity commissioner.

TheStar.com
Noor Javed
July 3, 2017

Residents and former politicians are raising alarm about dysfunction in the town of Whitchurch-Stouffville after staff found a “CSI-style” wall in the mayor’s office washroom that displayed dozens of photos and names of fellow and former councillors, members of the public, and town staffers who have either been dismissed or resigned from their jobs in recent years.

The discovery, which sources say sparked an ongoing integrity commissioner complaint against the mayor by staff, is the latest controversy to hit a town grappling with an unprecedented staff exodus, a deeply divided council and concerns around how town business is conducted.

“The first thing that comes to mind is: why are all these people leaving?” said Sue Sherban, who was mayor from 2003 to 2006 and estimates a quarter of the staff have left since the term began.

“But overall it’s the mismanagement of the town that is the problem,” she said, adding many of the staff haven’t been replaced. “It comes down to a lack of leadership.”

One of the fastest-growing towns in York Region, Whitchurch-Stouffville made national headlines last summer after Mayor Justin Altmann invited the entire town to his wedding, sending out invitations for the big day to dignitaries on mayoral letterhead.

But the success of the day only briefly turned the focus away from the ongoing turmoil. Since 2014, four city managers and four human resources managers — including the HR manager hired last year to find a solution to the staffing crisis — have left or been dismissed.

In May 2016, human resources manager, Pavlina Thompson, found that since 2014 there had been 42 staffing changes out of a staff of 470, with 30 people leaving their jobs due to “dissatisfaction” and “a lack of trust.” As of February, Thompson, herself, was no longer employed with the town.

But in recent months, staffing concerns have taken a back seat to a discovery made by a town staffer in March when she entered Altmann’s office.

According to one account shared with the Star, a staffer tasked with checking which offices needed to be repainted, came across “three walls covered in a large crime scene style mural” that had photos of more than 30 people with their names written underneath. Some pictures had black lines drawn between them.

Long-time councillor Ken Ferdinands confirmed he saw the display.

“It was a very orderly series of photographs,” he said, when asked to describe it. “I don’t know why it was up there. I couldn’t see any purpose for it, but certainly I wasn’t disturbed by it. I had a very neutral reaction to it.”

“I didn’t draw any conclusions from it,” Ferdinands added.

Integrity commissioner Suzanne Craig, recently hired by the town, confirmed she is investigating a complaint, but would not say if it is related to the wall.

Altmann did not respond to repeated requests from the Star for comment about the display, why it was put up, or any of the questions around staffing concerns plaguing the town.

“Mayor Altmann will not be commenting at this time,” said his executive assistant, Debi Paterson, after town spokesman Glenn Jackson said to reach out to the mayor’s office directly for comment.

This is not the first time Altmann’s name has been raised in reference to staff conflict. Last December, acting Chief Administrative Officer Rob Raycroft penned a letter to the mayor, which was leaked to the public, tendering his resignation and asking to go back to his position as director of leisure services.

“Sorry, but I won’t accept aggressive behaviour or threats of being sued/harassment charges on the phone,” Raycroft wrote in the email, which was also sent to council members. “It’s very disappointing that this is what staff have to endure at the municipal offices . . . You also told me I should learn my place. Agreed.”

Jackson responded by email to questions sent to Raycroft, noting that he was helping the town and assisting council until the new CAO was in place.

There has been high turnover in the post — often referred to as city manager — with Raycroft’s immediate predecessor sending in his resignation letter to Altmann just one day after starting the job.

After an extensive search, the town hired Roman Martiuk as the new CAO last week. Martiuk, who is expected to fully assume his duties in August and will be the fifth person to hold the job in three years, recently served as chief executive officer of Walkerton Clean Water Centre.

“I look forward to working closely with the mayor, council and staff to tackle the town’s challenges and create an environment where staff can grow, excel and produce superior results for the taxpayer,” Martiuk said in a news release.

Beyond the staffing crisis, some town hall watchers shake their heads at how Stouffville is being run, including: sole sourcing of multiple municipal contracts, huge legal fees and severance pay for staff who have been dismissed, and a lack of vision moving the town forward.

Ferdinands, who has been a councillor under the past two mayors, called the current situation “unique,” saying some of the issues at the town come down to “inexperience” and “misperceptions about the nature of one’s role.”

Among the unusual things council has had to deal with: passing motions to restrict Altmann’s use of his mayoral chain, a new security protocol for town facilities after the building’s master key went missing, and an incident where the mayor refused to sign a motion he disagreed with, forcing another councillor to step in.

Ferdinands says while there has been some “disharmony” in the past, council has been operating in a “civil environment” and that members “are trying to do the best we can.”

But the dysfunction has been costly for local taxpayers.

Former CAO Marc Pourvahidi was “dismissed without cause” last November, according to a media release, after being put on administrative leave since May 2016. But despite his absence from the job for most of the year, Pourvahidi was the highest paid city manager in Ontario, with a salary of $447,289.27, according to the province’s salary disclosure list.

In a news release, officials said “all issues related to Pourvahidi’s employment with the town have been amicably resolved,” and attributed the payout to his 17 years of service.

When contacted, Pourvahidi said he had “moved on” and didn’t want to talk about his departure.

The town’s 2017 budget shows that more than $220,000 — — far more than the $20,000 that was allocated — was spent on legal fees for human resources. The town said it would not comment on HR issues, nor did it offer specifics on the discrepancy in the budget.

While some councillors contacted by the Star claim the business of the town is not being affected by the drama within, long-time resident Arnold Neufeldt-Fast, disagrees.

“Council has been so divided and unable to make progress on key files. There’s a lot of infighting,” said Neufeldt-Fast. “It all has to come down to the fact that the leadership is deficient,” he said, adding all major projects and milestones, including plans for upgrades to a new leisure centre and public library and other community parks came to fruition under former councils.

But beyond that, Neufeldt-Fast sees this term as a lost opportunity for a “town in search of an identity.”

“This term was really about re-inventing who we are,” said Neufeldt-Fast, talking about the town of 45,000, made up of mostly commuters, which has doubled in population over the last decade. “That’s why this current term of council was so critical … because at this point, we needed new centres and new ways of connecting with each other,” he said.

Instead, he says, the current drama at the town has left residents “deflated.”

But Ferdinands said this term, which ends in the fall of 2018, is not a lost cause.

“I think that would be a mischaracterization,” he said. “We have certainly plodded along, and made sure the needs of the municipality have been addressed,” he said. “Despite the liabilities, we kind of just soldier on.”