Mayor shuts down Citizens First spokesperson, Mark Brown

At about 6:20 p.m. Mark Brown of Citizens First approached the microphone at tonight's City Council meeting asking to address mayor and council members.

Mayor Provenzano turned him down saying he had repeatedly asked the mayor and members of council to advance a motion to delay selection of a new Commissioner of Finance and Treasurer on his behalf.

Brown has led a charge to delay selection of a Commissioner of Finance for one month so that the next City Chief Administrative Officer would participate in the selection process.

Both Bill Freiburger, current Commissioner of Finance and Treasurer, and Joe Fratesi, Chief Administrative Officer, announced their intention to retire earlier this year.

"If any of the councillors saw fit to do that (introduce a motion to delay selection), there would be a motion today," Provenzano said. "There isn't."

Brown attempted to continue to address city council members.

"... You are not willing to put forward a motion to wait for one month to approve the current selection so that the citizens of Sault Ste. Marie can..."

At that point the mayor interrupted Brown, repeating his name several times and asking him to respect the council's procedures.

"This matter will not be heard," he said.

Brown's microphone was shut down and the mayor asked City Clerk Malcolm White to continue the meeting but Brown continued to speak loudly.

White told him he was disrupting the meeting and asked him to stop but he continued.

Provenzano told Brown that, if he didn't stop disrupting the meeting it would be paused while Brown was escorted out of the building.

Brown did leave the podium and was joined by another five people when he left Council Chambers a minute or two later.

Watch this debate beginning at 1:38.

Later in the evening, the mayor and council members voted to accept the hiring committee's recommendation to hire Shelley Schell as the incoming Commissioner of Finance and discussed the hiring process they used to select her for the position.

The mayor said the process was thorough, included a phychological test, and resulted in an excellent candidate who is experienced, well qualified and a proven asset to the city.

Watch these comments beginning at 2:30.

The full text of an email exchange between Brown and Mayor Provenzano follows.

The messages were forwarded to us by Mark Brown.

*************************

Sent from Citizen Mark Brown at 6:43 a.m., March 9

Dear Mayor Provenzano and Councillor Bruni,

Please, Mayor Provenzano, pass along my heartfelt condolences to our awesome Brad Jacobs Curling Rink when you are speaking with them.

Some times you don't lose a game. Some times the other team just makes every darn shot and rips the victory from your fingertips, and, I dare say, we've all got to be inspired by the comebacks of Team Canada: Down 2 and 3 in the round robin play only to claw their way back to the Brier Final, then down 2-0 against our Golden Boys heading into the seventh end only to come back to beat the best curling team in the world by drawing to a two-foot circle for a single point on the final shot of the 11th end to complete the comeback! A Brier Championship Game for the ages to be sure

I, for one, feel so proud and blessed to say that I live in the same city as these four, fine, young gentlemen who always represent our city of Sault Ste. Marie so well, and who have every reason to hold their heads high!

It's really hard to focus on anything else after such a thrilling and devastating match, but I am writing to you, Mayor Provenzano and Councillor Bruni, at this early hour, to request two things:

1) That the two of you Move and Second a Motion to Postpone, until the April 27 meeting of City Council, consideration of the March 9, 2015 Agenda Item 6.2 and it's affiliated Commissioner of Finance and Treasurer hiring By-law 2015-51 so that the Citizens of Sault Ste. Marie can be consulted as to what WE WANT City Council to do, either, A) Let retiring CAO Fratesi help with the selection of the next Treasurer, or B) Wait, and let the new CAO help with the selection of the new Treasurer, and

2) that the two of you grant me permission to speak as a Delegation at the March 9, 2015 City Council meeting before Agenda Item 6.2 is considered to request some time for us citizens to have some time to gather citizen input on this extremely important Treasurer Selection matter.

Should you feel that you would like to devote the April 27th meeting of City Council to be a farewell tribute to both retiring CAO Fratesi, and retiring Commissioner of Finance and Treasurer Freiburger I have no objecting to postponing the consideration of tonight's Agenda Item 6.2 and affiliated by-law 2015-51 to the April 13 meeting of City Council.

That still gives us citizens a full month to gather Citizen Feedback on this issue.

In the mean time, Citizens of Sault Ste. Marie can anonymously vote for their preference between, A) CAO Fratesi helping to pick the new Treasurer, or B) Waiting for the New CAO to help select the new Treasurer by clicking here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5BVNDXH currently standing at about 90% in favour of waiting for the new CAO.

Luckily, I had the opportunity to Petition the residents of Upton Road, your old neighbourhood Mayor Provenzano, on that same question for about an hour before the curling match yesterday afternoon, and the result was astonishingly clear: Only 1 out of 10 respondents said ,"A) Let CAO Fratesi help pick", another 6 said, "B) Wait and let the new CAO help pick", and the other 3 said that they had no opinion one way or the other (see two attached separate petitions)

I dare say that if you, Councillor Bruni, do the same thing on your street, you will find that you get a similar result. And I believe the rest of City Council will also get the same result on their respective 'streets' as well.

In any case, the petitioning of some of the Upton Road residents is significant for another reason, Mayor Provenzano. At the January 26th meeting of City Council, at approximately one hour and fifty-two minutes into the City Council meeting (accessed on the City's Corporate Calendar under January 26, 'watch council' link), you let your old neighbours speak as a Delegation outside of the rules of procedure. I, therefore, simply ask that you grant me the same kindness you granted your old neighbours to appear as a Delegation to speak to this important Citizen Feedback issue should Councillor Bruni decide that he is not interested in Citizen Feedback on this issue.

Personally I don't think that Councillor Bruni will have a problem Moving or Seconding these two Motions because having dealt with Councillor Bruni on a number of issues in the past I have found Councillor Bruni to be quite receptive to my citizen feedback to help inform his decisions at the City Council table, therefore I am sure he will be an equally strong supporter of this request for Citizen Feedback to help inform City Council eventual decision as to how to proceed with this selection of the next Treasurer who will likely be in that position for the next 20-30 years.

I trust that you two gentlemen will author an appropriate Postponement Motion with your names on it to present to City Council at tonight's meeting should that be your wish, and I look forward to seeing my name listed on the City Council Addendum as a Delegation which I have requested City Clerk Malcolm White send to me as soon as it's available after 3 p.m. today, and which I will be forwarding to the media.

In any case, thank you for your careful consideration of these matter, and I will see the two of you at the City Council meeting later today to request that our City Council postpone the Approval of the Hiring of Ms. Schell until the April 27 meeting of City Council.

Sincerely,
Mark Brown
CitizensFirst@shaw.ca

Sent from Mayor Provenzano at 11:47 a.m., March 9

Mark:

I am writing further to your email copied below [seen above].

In order that you are properly informed, the Upton Road Delegation made a request of the Agenda Review Committee to speak to its petition which, as you are aware, was properly qualified and put before Council. The Agenda Review Committee approved its request. We simply did not invite them to speak in delegations because they were speaking to a specific matter later on in the agenda and we afforded them the opportunity to speak as a delegation when the matter came up on the agenda. I am responding in this respect because your email indicates that the procedural guideline was not followed and you are incorrect in that assertion.

As you are aware, you email me very frequently. You have asked to present to Council as a delegation. You have withdrawn a request to attend before Council as a delegation. You have asked again to speak to Council. You have asked Councillors to bring forth specific motions on a number of occasions. You have asked me to bring forth specific motions.

Council decided to proceed with the prescribed process to replace the retiring Commissioner of Finance in open session. That decision was a bona fide decision of Council. None of the Councillors have asked to reconsider it and the process moved forward. That process involved three people (as per the policy): the CAO, the Commissioner of Human Resources and myself as a delegate of Council. The process was followed and the committee came to a recommendation for Council.

You are now asking that we put that recommendation on hold in order that we may conduct a scientific poll of Sault residents about whether they want the process carried through now or whether they want us to wait until some undetermined time when we have a new CAO. Setting aside and not even considering the obvious costs to conducting a scientific poll, there is absolute no basis for the course of conduct that you are requesting we undertake.

This is a representative democracy. City Council was recently elected to represent the citizens of Sault Ste. Marie and we are doing just that. As a matter of representative democracy, we do not poll the citizenry on administrative processes such as a hiring process. It would not only be a derogation of our responsibility, it would be a frivolous use of tax payer dollars.

You have made much ado about the hiring of the Commissioner of Finance which I respectfully suggest either undervalued or disregarded both my involvement, the involvement of the Commissioner of Human Resources and the fact that we followed a prescribed policy.

You are obviously an intelligent man and a very conscientious citizen. I commend your engagement but suggest that it would be better served involving yourself with projects focused on the improvement of our community which you no doubt care deeply about.

I will not be putting forward a motion on your behalf tonight; and, as you are aware, the agenda review committee did not grant your request to attend as a delegation.

CP

Sent at 1:44 p.m. from Citizen Mark Brown

Dear Mr. Mayor,

First, and foremost, I am, "involving yourself [myself] with projects focused on the improvement of our community which you [I] ... care deeply about." That being the right of citizens to provide our input to inform the decisions of our elected representatives, and to ask our elected representatives to set aside the power we have granted them on issues of great import, and go directly to the people for a decision.

In this particular case, not who the next Treasurer should be, as you cleverly tried to imply in your response below [seen above], but A) Should the retiring CAO Joseph M. Fratesi be involved in the selection of our next Treasurer, or B) Should we wait until the next CAO is in place, likely by the end of June or the beginning of July, and can then provide his/her input into the selection of the next Treasurer who will hold that position likely for the next 20-30 years.

This is one of those rare instances, like the Boxing Day shopping issue, where the entire citizenry will be affected, and should therefore be consulted if there is a reasonable opportunity to do so.

There is a reasonable opportunity do so.

The Treasurer will not be retiring until May 8.

It will not cost the city a cent, or should I say a nickel.

There is no HURRY to RAM this retiring-CAO-involved recommendation through at this March 9 Meeting.

The Corporation will not crumble if the citizenry informs City Council that we would prefer to have the new CAO help select the next Treasurer, because the simple fact is that Shelley Schell will remain working in the Finance Department along with all of the other qualified candidates who took place in the recent selection process, as a team and the Corporation will said smoothly on until the next CAO likely CONFIRMS Ms. Schell, as his/her preferred Treasurer, or provides some sort of insight that CAO Fratesi can't offer which would change the eventual selection.

Besides, if you let Ms. Schell be appointed tonight, she will forever be seen by the Joseph M. Fratesi haters to be in Joseph M. Fratesi's pocket. Which, by the way, might plague her for the rest of her career here with the City.

Please have some compassion and consideration for Ms. Schell and the next CAO, Mr. Mayor (and City Council)

Put your name, along with Councillor Bruni's, on a Motion to POSTPONE the appointment of Ms. Schell (Mar. 9, 2015 Agenda Item 6.2 and By-law 2015-51) until the April 13, 2015 meeting of City Council, and let me, Citizen Mark Brown, speak to City Council to convince them that this postponement is in the best interests of we Citizens of Sault Ste. Marie.

I look forward to seeing a Postponement Motion and a Delegation Motion on the Addendum which City Clerk White has promised to send me via email at CitizensFirst@shaw.ca shortly after 3 p.m. today.

And I look forward to speaking to you at tonight's City Council meeting, and I urge all citizens who care about who helps select the next Treasurer to show up before 4:30 at City Hall to silently accompany me into the Council Chamber to speak to our elected representatives, not dictators.

Sincerely,

Mark Brown,

CitizensFirst@shaw.ca

P. S. You may say what you want about your former neighbours on Upton Road being granted approval by the Agenda Review Committee (ARC), but your friends are not listed on the January 26, 2015 City Council Agenda as a Delegation and, therefore, were NOT approved by the ARC. Plus, that AR committee is a closed door committee with no Agenda or Minutes, therefore, the City Council Agenda is the only proof of your assertion that you did not go outside the process, but it seemed like both Councillor Sheehan, and Councillor Myers both wanted that Delegation (see link below) to speak to council, so we are splitting hairs at this point. I need you and Councillor Bruni to confirm, or at least one other City Councillor to demonstrate that they are in favour of Citizen Input on this extremely important issue.

http://www.city.sault-ste-marie.on.ca/Cityweb/media/City-Clerk/Council-Agendas/2015/2015_01_26_AGENDA.pdf?ext=.pdf

*************************