Mr. Editor,
In your Opinion piece of January 30th, you raised the issue of improper hiring practices within the Municipality of Meaford. You reported that the now former fire chief was the spouse of the now former CAO, a fact that raised the eyebrows of some in that it was in conflict with municipal hiring policy, which states that no relative of an existing municipal employee should be hired in line of supervision.
I believe that this community’s hiring problem is much more widespread than this one circumstance. Many more eyebrows should be raised as there have been many new staff “appointed” to permanent positions without a job competition within the Municipality and community non-profit organizations.
These secretive and closed-door appointments have favoured one job applicant with senior level decision makers misusing their hiring powers. The Municipality and community organizations need to place safeguards to ensure all new hiring is with open and fair job competitions. By doing so, we get the most qualified candidate to do the important jobs in our community.
Marnie Wraith , Meaford
