Councillor Expresses Views About Coverage

Dear Editor:

I meant to respond to the subject article earlier and just became too busy with December and budget deliberations.

See: Police Commission Vote Turns Nasty - MJ Independent, November 28, 2023

For clarification I wanted to point out that personally I do not feel that Councillor Eby was taking a poke at myself, my question on “allowability” of her impromptu comments was in general, should it be allowed without context?

I am 100% in favour of “free speech” and legitimate comments provided they are presented with factual data and evidence, in this case, an attendance record would be very relevant.

Without facts, the comment is vague, suggestive and frankly, provocative.

Further, Councillor Luhning’s point of order remark, “It’s unfair to put the Clerk on that hot seat…don’t put our Administration on the spot,” left me disconcerted, wondering, if I am not able to ask our City Clerk and/or Administration a question of order and procedure, whom shall I ask?

Councillor Logan’s apology for allowing the comment while appreciated, is a palpable verity of our Council making and allowing errors without recourse, often without apology, at the expense of our city and residents thereof.

Further in fact, at the time of the inaugural meeting I had succumbed to the “virus du jour” and had planned to attend remotely, making my attendance request beforehand.

Due to technical issues with audio/video I was not able to connect remotely, I then offered attendance in person if allowed a 15 minute recess.

I was told it would not be required and I could be sworn in at the MJPS offices when I was feeling better.

I believe that is the only meeting I missed during my tenure as a MJPS Commissioner.

I would mention that, although not a requirement, the Chair has traditionally been offered to the Mayor, election of someone other than the Mayor had not occurred in several years.

This irregularity became apparent when a vote was carried out albeit with procedural error.

The error could have been corrected through revote through proper procedure, it was not.

I feel Ms. Booth effectively fulfilled her duties and save but for a couple of times, due to schedule conflict, her attendance was never in question.

I feel your article’s statement “the Board of Police Commissioners [meetings] has seemingly been plagued with commissioners not being able to attend meetings” should be quantified with data as I don’t believe it was a problem issue, rather handled with some slight schedule adjustments.

I recall only one board member’s attendance that may have allowed for some criticism.

Given the opportunity and trust granted me by many of our residents through the election process, I take my commitment to our City and related board appointments extremely serious.

I really felt in stride with our MJPS Board of Commissioners, feeling that it takes several months to gain the knowledge to become an effective board member on the Commission (because of this I feel Commissioner appointments should be 2 years).

In light of this, I petitioned, as is common practice, to other members of Council to support my re-appointment to the MJPS Board of Commissioners.

Unfortunately, while I had two votes in support, one need not be a mathematician to conclude I would need three votes to be successful.

I received no response from the third individual I requested support, not once but twice, via email.

Knowing that no response was normally indicative of a response of “no,” I knew that, regardless of Councillor Eby’s comments, I would not be re-appointed.

In summation I wish you a Happy 2024, good health and much success in the future.

Councillor Kim Robinson