Bell: Gondek shovels the spin — Calgary's notorious city hall secrecy remains

Yahoo

24-07-2025

How much do the Calgary city hall paper-shufflers actually make?
Mayor Jyoti Gondek says nothing of substance.
No surprise.
Almost nobody at Calgary city hall wants to talk about it.
Getting the facts for Calgarians from these folks downtown is far tougher than pulling teeth.
You'd think these folks were running a spy agency.
What is second nature, so obviously the right thing to do, a no-brainer with governments right across the country, is something almost nobody at Calgary city hall wants to talk about.
They nibble around the edges but when they are pressed on the issue they won't take a real bite.
Instead, life is so closed in the city hall cocoon, their operations so notoriously secretive, the city hall politicians will actually chinwag next week about how much we should know about what their boss paper-shuffler David Duckworth pockets carrying out orders in the Big Blue Playpen.
It is pitiful.
Why isn't somebody going on the city council floor and pushing for what's called a Sunshine List?
The Alberta government has a Sunshine List.
If you're on the Alberta government payroll and make more than $133,813 this year, then your regular salary, any other cash benefits above that wage and the employer's contributions to your pension and other benefits will be shown on the list along with your name and job title.
If you get the boot and score severance on the way out that payout is also known.
By the way, do we even know what Calgary top cop Mark Neufeld got in severance going out the exit door?
Ask city hall about it and they pass the buck to the Calgary Police Commission where city council members sit.
Taxpayers learn squat even if it's your money. City hall just hopes you tire of the constant struggle to get to the truth and throw up your hands and give up.
It is time to ask Mayor Gondek. The buck has to stop somewhere.
Gondek talks about how city hall could do a better job of being more open.
Alas, most of what she says is a word salad involving insider talk of city hall procedures that would give you instant brain freeze while taking a shot at Sonya Sharp, a councillor running for the mayor's job.
You're no wiser than when you started.
MEMO TO THE GONDEK BRAINTRUST. Friendly advice. The mayor is not following the plan on how to politically rehabilitate herself.
You know, the Gondek image makeover I recently wrote about with the $107,324 price tag paid by you, dear reader.
A question to Mayor Gondek from this newshound. I'm trying to help the mayor see the light.
Why not just bring in a Sunshine List like most other governments and then we will know how much the city hall movers and shakers make? It is taxpayer money.
It is a doubly important question since, this week, one of the city hall high-and-mighties actually seems to suggest Calgary city hall doesn't have enough employees.
Say what?!
That's hard to believe because when one of the city hall somebodies makes a presentation to city council they often come in with a big enough entourage you'd think they must be a member of the Royal Family.
So the slow pitch question to Gondek. How about finanicial info on the city hall brass?
A swing and a miss.
'We do have tools that provide that.'
They do not.
'Are they easily accessible? Obviously not, because people are asking: Where can we find these things?'
People are asking because … THERE IS NO CITY HALL SUNSHINE LIST.
A follow-up question. Gondek rushes off.
The city of Calgary has a list of job titles and the pay range for each job. It's like a massive Help Wanted catalogue. It means nothing.
So the secrecy goes on.
Ten years ago, yes, ten long years ago, city hall paper shufflers misled Calgarians. They said provincial privacy laws prevented a Sunshine List showing the pay and perks of city hall bigshots.
Did they take us for fools?
Jeff Fielding, then the big boss at the city, cleared the air and said council could have voted Yes to a real Sunshine List, like almost everywhere else, including where he previously worked in Ontario.
Council should press the issue and stop letting city brass lead them around by the nose.
Again, Dan McLean seems to be one of the few members of city council willing to speak. If others are, you know where to find me.
'Everyone would like to see a Sunshine List, except administration. Why don't they want to see one? What are they hiding? I want to know exactly how much Joe Schmo is making and what he does,' says McLean.
'I don't care if you're getting paid a lot of money if you're earning it, but enquiring minds want to know.'
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