Saanich鈥檚 mayor and council have to step back from the battle that threatens to bring the municipality鈥檚 business grinding to a halt. Finding a way forward will require everyone to have the courage to move away from their hardening positions so they can get on with serving the citizens of Saanich. That will be difficult because the frustration and animosity have been building over the past couple of weeks.
Mayor Richard Atwell must put his job first. Councillors must put aside their resentment and stop undermining the mayor. Staff must forget the accusations made against them and give the mayor their co-operation.
Much of the hard work 鈥� and the first steps 鈥斅爓ill have to come from Atwell. If he has been getting political advice, he needs to find new advisers.
Although he has reasons to be concerned about what has happened over the past six weeks, he could go a long way toward rebuilding the needed trust by dropping his complaints against the police, both the Saanich department and the Integrated Road Safety Unit.
Atwell has asked the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner to investigate whether the Saanich police leaked information about his 911 call from the home of a campaign supporter and to investigate the same force鈥檚 possible conflict of interest when it said nothing criminal was done when staff put spyware on the mayor鈥檚 office computer.
His concerns about the four times he was stopped by police while driving have not gone to the complaint commissioner, but he should also let that matter drop. Even though he might have justification, the most important priority is building effective working relationships so he can do his job.
The installation of Spector 360 software on his computer is something that should be probed, but the information and privacy commissioner鈥檚 office is a better venue. Commissioner Elizabeth Denham could establish whether provincial privacy rules were broken and offer guidance to Saanich and other municipalities.
Dropping the police complaints would enable Atwell to return to chairing the police board, whose other members asked him to step aside while Justice Minister Suzanne Anton investigated his actions. She refused, leaving the board to solve the problem itself.
Atwell also has to set and keep office hours, so he is available to staff and residents. He can use any email address he wants. On Saanich鈥檚 website, all the other councillors give outside email addresses.
Councillors must also be part of the solution. Although they are frustrated by some of the things the mayor has said and done, they have to stop sniping at him.
Insults, gossip and innuendo on all sides are making the situation worse. The accusations flying, especially on social media, are vicious.
Everyone should stop taking sides; we don鈥檛 need claques at council meetings.
Although the situation has turned into a rich mine of jokes, everyone 鈥� including those of us in the news media 鈥� must recognize this isn鈥檛 a laughing matter. It鈥檚 serious for the people of Saanich and all the individuals involved.
If either side decides to continue the conflict, it will do serious damage to the municipality. The more it escalates and the longer it goes on, the harder it will be to call a halt.
It鈥檚 not too late to start over and build the trust that is essential to a smoothly functioning organization. Citizens and the media can keep an eye on both sides to make sure they don鈥檛 start fighting again.
Walking away when the wounds are still fresh is hard, but we don鈥檛 elect public officials to do easy jobs. We expect them to lead.
Budget meetings are just a month away. Saanich council has to get to work.
