City Staff Works For You Not Itself
Here is the state of our open, caring and inclusive Ottawa City Hall in 2025:
No $100M #Sprung Structures in #ottawa. Phew. Lessons?
When @WilsonLo24 asks #ottcity staff for information, he shouldn’t have to use ATIP. @KenGray @DevineSeanCity of Ottawa not proceeding with newcomer reception centres in Nepean, Kanata: Memo https://t.co/IK4ibIQZMG
— Evan H. Potter ?? ?? (@EvanHPotter) March 12, 2025
If councillors must use access to information to get basic information that should be available to them, then that is a city staff that is not working for you.
Staff was afraid of sprung structure information coming out, which was not dangerous, and was protecting its own posterior.
As well, it could mean that city staff has so little respect for city council that it feels it can withhold important information from your elected representatives. That’s not how democracy works. City staff is not supposed to toil for itself so it can keep its own image clean (at which it is failing).
Staff is supposed to work for you.
There was absolutely no reason for information to be withheld from a councillor on the sprung structure issue.
Public service, not private service.
Ken Gray
For You:
ByWard Market: Watson For Nightlife Commish
City Was Right On Sprung Structure End: PATTON
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– The Bulldog – News Feed Enter 
I seem to recall a couple of councillors asking questions about the LRT contract that they were being asked to vote on and being told the information was confidential and they couldn’t have it. But, of course, they were expected to raise their hands to take on the legal responsibility of approving the contract.
Question: Who’s going to bell the cat and tell them they work for us, not themselves? It will be a huge shock to some of them.
I doubt that this is staff covering up anything that they initiated. I have met people in this group and have found them to be very devoted people trying to support at risk groups. They have their hands tied by Provincial laws, regulations and social cuts. And a Mayor and Council that largely cares more about developers and professional spectator sports than kids and poverty in our city. It was notable that the City Manager or the Mayor did not make this announcement but left it a mid level manager.
I understand that information about retail leasing at Lansdowne was also denied to council. OSEG/City boasted full occupancy in their last annual report on Lansdowne yet has lost an average of $10 million a year for a decade. How does that make sense? Are they having to offer below market rates? Citizens and council need all the facts in order to make decisions.
Based on all the complaints concerning city staff of late and previously, it is perhaps time for an external consulting firm to view how efficiently city hall is being run, and make suggestions on how to reduce staff, not using a DOGE-like chainsaws , but employing a more analytical approach. I’m certain they’ll discover inefficiencies and work overlap in a staff of 17,000 employees. The cost of this approach could easily be paid for using money that would otherwise have to be paid in salaries. Hint: to begin the process, walk amongst the work stations to find out which of those employed spend the day with their faces buried in iPhones; they should be first out the door.
A Culture shift is required as sisco suggests. The senior city staff dealing with council and Public on major issues are “political”, never answering a direct question, and avoiding full disclosure, it is obvious. Its like they only work for one person, such as OSEG or the Mayor and not for the public good. There are many supporting staff that are excellent and we need them. The big job is cleaning up this mess.