It seems like there is a new effort at City Hall to change how your City works—and not necessarily for the better.
We all want a City that runs efficiently. We all want tax dollars spent wisely. But recently, two new draft policies have surfaced that would restrict how information flows from the frontline to your elected officials.
How can Council fix a problem if they aren’t allowed to know it exists?
The Council/Staff Communications Policy:
The City Administration is proposing a rule that would strictly ban frontline workers—the people fixing your roads, guarding your pools, and handling citizen complaints directly—from speaking directly to Mayor and Council about business matters.
Instead, everything must be filtered through the City Manager.
How are your elected officials supposed to provide oversight if they only hear the “sanitized” version of the truth?
When communication is cut off, small problems turn into expensive disasters. If a snowplow operator sees a way to save money, or a clerk sees a safety risk, shouldn’t your Council want to hear that?
The “Updated” Whistleblower Policy
On the surface, this sounds great. Everyone supports protecting those who speak up. But the fine print is concerning.
The draft policy gives the City Administration the exclusive authority to decide if a complaint against itself is even investigated.
Does it make sense to let the people being accused decide if they should be investigated?
What This Means for You (The Taxpayer)
It sounds like these policies are asking you to trust a system with less oversight and more secrecy.
Less Transparency: Council gets less information to make decisions with your money.
Higher Costs: Problems that are hidden by bureaucracy usually cost twice as much to fix later.
Lower Accountability: If things go wrong, it becomes harder to find out why.
Is this a trade you are willing to make?
We believe Prince George deserves a culture of openness, where the truth travels fast and workers feel safe to speak up to better their community.
We urge the Mayor and Council to ask the tough questions before signing off on a “Wall of Silence.”
CUPE Local 1048
Standing for Transparency, Safety, and Service.