Don Iveson joined Edmonton AM host Mark Connolly in the studio Monday morning for the September edition of the mayor's phone-in.
Here's what happened:
On the dismissal of Simon Farbrother
Last week, city manager Simon Farbrother was dismissed from his position and given an $800,000 severance.
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"My position is that Simon did some excellent work for the city in the five and a half years he was with us, and we wish him the best," Iveson said Monday. "I have no reservations about the decision."
However, Iveson did have words for council itself, which voted nearly unanimously to remove Farbrother.
"I had hoped that council would take a slightly higher road than it did, quite frankly, with some of the comments we saw afterwards. But I'm comfortable with how I approached it."
Don Iveson sat down in studio Monday for the latest edition of the mayor's phone-in. (Tim Adams/CBC)
Iveson said Farbrother's replacement will be asked to improve the way problems are reported internally within the administration.
As a follow-up, Iveson was asked whether there were any plans in place to replace other city staffers, particularly in the transportation, sanitation and roadway departments.
"There's always going to be turnover in any organization. But really we hire, and as necessary replace, the city manager — and below that, we look to the city manager to make those decisions for us."
The mayor also took the opportunity to provide an update on the finances of some major projects, saying taxpayers won't foot the bill for any delays.
"Though we do have some significant projects that are in delay, we got a report at council last week that indicated of 85 major projects we have going, 85 are on or under budget."
While delays on the Metro Line, Walterdale Bridge and 102nd Avenue continue, Iveson said the city is withholding contractor payment or charging delay fines.
On reporting city salaries
After one caller expressed concern over the severance given to Farbrother, Iveson noted that the city manager's salary has been posted publicly each year for some time.
"It may not have been publicized widely up to this point, because it wasn't newsworthy, but … the city's certainly not hiding that."
Iveson said he does not agree with publishing an annual list of all city employees' salaries.
"My issue with the sunshine list is attaching names to salaries — that creates a lot of unnecessary tension in the workplace, in my view. If the province requires us to do it, then we will do it, but what we've done instead is… we've provided the salaries and salary ranges and wage ranges for every position with the City of Edmonton."
You can view that list here.
On maintaining access to community mailboxes
One listener email drew the mayor's attention to a community mailbox in his neighbourhood, saying the spot often floods in the spring when the drainage is blocked and is a skating rink in the winter. He asked what the city would do to keep community mailbox areas clean and clear of snow.
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"There's been some ambiguity about this," Iveson said. "My expectation is that Canada Post should deal with it, because they sprung all this on us. Now, I'm not sure they will, but I'm not sure it's fair to expect the homeowner to do it either."
'I'm not going to jackhammer one of these things out — but I look forward to sending a bill to Canada Post for what they've imposed on us.' - Don Iveson
Iveson said Canada Post made the decision about where to put the mailboxes without discussing the possible impacts with the municipality.
"Municipal leaders from across the country are frustrated with how this rolled out," he said. "We literally did not get consulted at all, we were just told."
If drainage issues occur in the right-of-way, the city will have to be involved in some capacity, he said.
"I'm not going to jackhammer one of these things out but I look forward to sending a bill to Canada Post for what they've imposed on us."
Iveson promised to look into the matter, and said drainage and transportation staff will be on notice for known trouble spots.
On inner-city property crime
Asked about a recent spike in property crime in the city centre, Iveson said more must be done to stamp out opportunistic crimes.
"A lot of the property crime, in particular, is related to individuals who are looking for property that they can fence and convert into money to support their addiction ... The root cause in a lot of these cases, from talking to police, is addictions," Iveson said.
"The big piece here that is still missing is a robust addictions and mental health strategy."
Iveson said the province has committed to work on the issue, which has been a focus of the city charter discussions — particularly since the recent economic downturn has sent many Albertans to the larger cities to look for work and social support.
'We really need the province to step up on that."
Follow the full discussion:
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