Robin answers the big questions on voters’ minds. She explains why she is prepared to be Mayor, the September 8th meeting with Watertek and AECOM, and her motion for the future of Westport’s Snowfluent system.

Question: Are you concerned that you may not have been on Council long enough to gain the experience necessary to be an effective Mayor?

Answer:  Not at all.  I held senior leadership positions in the public sector for the past 22 years.  I have demonstrated in-depth strategic leadership, including leading a police service of 180 employees with an annual  budget of $32 million.  As a Tactical Incident Commander for over 500 high risk incidents and public order events, I made timely, crucial decisions to ensure the safety of the public and the police.  As an experienced Chairperson, I understand proper process for a meeting, including Robert’s Rules. Throughout the past year, I have demonstrated that I have a clear understanding of how Council operates in our Village.  Finally, one of my key strengths is asking timely, essential questions.

Can you tell me why the meeting between Northern Watertek, AECOM and the Village didn’t occur on September 8?

You may know, I liaised with Mr. Bernard Masse, Executive Vice-President of Northern Watertek, and scheduled a meeting on September 8th with AECOM and the Village of Westport Council.  Prior to that date, AECOM, on behalf of the Village, contacted  Mr. Masse by e-mail with certain requests.  Mr. Masse was offended by some of the e-mail and, in his reply to AECOM and the Village, stated their “insolence knows no bounds” and cancelled his plans to attend the meeting.

Have you any other plans to how Council can learn from Northern Watertek’s suggestions or plans on how to repair the Snowfluent system so that it operates as it was engineered and developed to do?

At the September 8 Council meeting, I moved the following motion, which was passed by the Councillors.  Mr Masse has been sent a copy of the motion. I am hopeful  that Mr Masse will respond to this motion and work with the Village.

Whereas the Executive Vice President, Mr Bernard Masse, has offered publicly the assistance of Northern WaterTek to the Village of Westport to resolve issues with the Snowfluent System;

And that a meeting arranged for this purpose on September 8 to include AECOM, the Village of Westport and Northern WaterTek was not held;

I move the following:

That Northern WaterTek’s (NWT) Executive Vice-President, Mr Bernard Masse, be requested to provide the Council of the Village of  Westport with a summary of his proposal by November 25, 2014;

That the staff of the Village of Westport be directed to work cooperatively with Mr Masse and those under his direction;

That all communication and correspondence to Mr Bernard Masse, other than those of the technical nature,  will be conducted by Councillor Robin Jones;

And that Mr Bernard Masse be invited to the first meeting of the new council to make a presentation.