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District of Sooke quietly hosts Special Meeting

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The District of Sooke quietly** hosted a special 20 minute meeting on Wednesday, August 3 with the single agenda item to appoint the interim fire chief, Russ Cameron.

Elected officials present at the meeting were Mayor Maja Tait and Councillors Rick Kasper, Kevin Pearson and Kerrie Reay. The meeting started at 6:00 p.m.

Two motions were made and carried at that meeting. The first was the official appointment of Russ Cameron as interim fire chief for Sooke for a period of three months. The second was a directive to staff to look into recognizing the services of Steve Sorensen, the former fire chief, by way of a key to the district.

Fire chief’s pay

Councillor Kevin Pearson asked if the remuneration of the fire chief is in line with that of other districts within BC.

“We will absolutely must take a look at the compensation that the former chief was receiving,” responded T.eresa Sulliva.n, Sooke’s CAO. “It is not in line with the rest of the Chiefs in British Columbia.” Sullivan will present that information in a report she is currently working on.

An ASIDE, brought to you by SPN: FYI Career Fire Fighter’s remuneration, Sooke and vicinity

According to the recently released Statement of Financial Information, Sooke has five career fire fighting professionals with incomes over $75,000. Those 2015 incomes, from highest to lowest, were as follows:

  • Matthew Barney, Assistant Fire Chief: $149,613.79 ($1552.72 in expenses)
  • Rick McLeod, Deputy Fire Chief (since retired, no replacement position posted): $148,768.51 ($75.00 in expenses)
  • Cameron Norris-Jones, Fire Fighter: $118,136.24 ($633.87 in expenses)
  • Christopher McCrea, Fire Fighter: $112,747.70 ($450.00 in expenses)
  • Steven Sorensen, Fire Chief: $110,622.03 ($3,642.04 in expenses)

For comparison purposes according to their respective 2015 SOFI reports, the Victoria fire chief’s pay was $171,644.71; in Langford it was $ 151,611.54; in Colwood it was $133,371.39; and in Duncan it was $86,033.15.

According to the most recently available statistics (2011) Sooke’s population (11,435) falls between that of Colwood (16,093) and Duncan (4,932).

Definitive closure for outgoing fire chief

Pearson noted that in his line of work, new contracts were not signed until old ones were firmly concluded. Outgoing fire chief Sorensen is currently on vacation, which ends (along with his employment) on October 17.

“He has signed a retirement letter and a letter of confidentiality,” stated Sullivan, “so I don’t expect him to return to the job.”

Soresen’s appointment as fire chief was rescinded as a part of the first motion.

New fire chief not living in Sooke

Pearson noted the new interim chief Russ Cameron does not live in Sooke and asked, “Does he understand that he’s on call? and, how are we going to deal with that?”

“He is fully aware of that,” responded Sullivan, clarifying, “He has committed to being available to the District whenever he is required to be available.”

Longer hiring window not required

Councillor Kerrie Reay asked that the language of the motion be changed to allow staff to amend the timeline of the hiring if required, to up to four or five months.

“I just think three months is an awfully short period of time to get somebody in place,” noted Reay on observing it was a nationwide search. As the recent Chair of the Hiring Committee that hired Sooke’s current CAO, she is speaking from experience. That Hiring Committee first met on September 10, posted the job widely two weeks later, and made their hiring recommendation to Council on November 30 (after about nine hours of in-camera meetings that SPN can account for).

The CAO said she wanted to respect the new chief’s parameters and the the existing three month appointment.

“We can always try to control cajole him later,” Sullivan added. [Aug 8, 2016: Read the full correction and SPN apology here.]

Recognition for outgoing fire chief

The motion was made by Pearson (seconded by Reay) to recognize former Sooke fire chief’s 36 years of service by way of a Key to the District or naming a street in Sooke after him.

Motion (from the draft minutes, see below): “THAT staff investigate and prepare a formal ceremony format for the official retirement ceremony of Fire Chief Sorensen; AND include a formal recognition reflective of his service e.g. a ‘Key to the District’, a street name, etc.”

It was noted that a number of events are currently being planned, by the volunteer fire fighter and the District of Sooke. Special financing arrangements were discussed.

Draft minutes are available online.

Additional information requested by SPN

Since we just found out about this meeting, SPN has put in a request for additional information to the District early Friday morning. As of the time that this article was published, we have not yet heard a response. Should we hear we will add the information as an addendum to this article or post it separately, whatever is most appropriate. The questions we asked included:

  1. Is Russ Cameron operational or administrative? Chief Sorensen was an operational Chief, meaning he was First-Responder certified, NFPA trained and current, and he was (anecdotally) often first on the scene.
  2. If the new chief is administrative, will the operational gap be covered by the (recently reduced) overtime budget?

Notes

**According to Bylaw 422 (pages 3 and 4), the District is required to give 24 hours notice of Special meetings, and post a “copy of the notice in the Council Chambers at Municipal Hall; …[and] at the Public Notice Posting Places.” SPN has no idea where these Public Notice Posting Places are. No notice was given to SPN and nothing was posted on the District’s own News page.

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Comments

District of Sooke quietly hosts Special Meeting — 19 Comments

  1. What the … does this mean? “We can always try to control him later,” Sullivan added. Anyway, given the varied urban/rural/wildland that Sooke encompasses, I hardly think it’s fair we compare Sooke to Colwood. Oh, so many questions…

  2. So now we lose a trained first responder and gain another administrator who doesn’t even live here for up to 5 months. ???

    And we have no access to info on when these kind if meetings take place.

    Thanks SPN for the update so we now know we will be 1 less first responder in an event of fire or accident, geesh 🙁

  3. Just curious, why does the assistant fire chief, Matthew Barney, fire fighters, Cameron Norris-Jones and Christopher McCrea, get paid more than fire chief, Sorenson? Am I missing something?

    • Chief Sorenson was not and is not a member if the IAFF International Association of Firefighters due to the classification of ‘management’. If the paid firefighters were offered to take the position of Fire Chief they would need to take a large cut in pay and an even larger need of responsibility and then be in the centre of and under the scrutiny of, the District’s magnifying glass.

  4. I would hope that we would look for a fire chief among our current fire fighters since they will be the ones that actually know Sooke and who have worked hard to keep us safe. This need our current council has to go outside Sooke to fill essential positions is worrisome and feels disrespectful to the people who have been doing an exceptional job in keeping the people of Sooke safe.

  5. Thanks again SPN for this release of information. I read it in its entirety and there was certainly a few sentences that stood out. The first was “He has signed a retirement letter and a letter of confidentiality…” Is that the same as a putting a gag order on someone to prevent them from sharing what happens behind closed doors?

    The other sentence that jumps out is “We can always try to control him later.” Perhaps Mr. Cameron should get a copy of this news release to better understand what he may be stepping into as perceived by that statement.

  7. strange about the confidentiality and with an upcoming audit just around the corner…….

    Britt – how many staff in total are paid over 100k by us?

  8. How can we have a Fire Chief that doesn’t even live in Sooke? That should have been a condition — interim or not — or someone from the inside should have been hired. What a sham. Also, what is with the secret meetings Sooke is holding now? They are clearly violating the Community Charter. What can we the people do to hold them accountable?

  10. Not only have we lost another first responder. We have lost the best I have ever seen. As Incident Commander Chief Sorenson (in my opinion) as I’ve stood at his side and personally seen his professionalism and expertise. He has lead his crew(s) and attack teams concerned with the possibility of rescue, fire attack and protecting surrounding plus, when it’s including mutual aide from surrounding departments, additional radio control for the safety and protection of all. In my opinion, we have lost a great hero of Sooke! There is a lot said here, at this time however …. there is a lot that is not been said as well. Push came to shove.

  11. 1st, I Would repeat every word Kel Phair has expressed!
    2nd, I cannot help but ask what influence and authority the CAO has in this matter.
    Furthermore, I am certain that I am not the only member of our community who has reached the point of outrage that this seemingly self-imposed person has on political decisions, large or small.
    Like Kel, I could go on but this is no longer the forum.

  12. Back to my first comment on Aug. 6th regarding the CAO’s “we can always try and control him later”. It makes one (who doesn’t regularly follow Council’s activities) wonder. I am starting to (in my opinion) think that maybe this mentality has been meted out with the exodus of other members of Sooke District and Council. ‘In my opinion’ – it makes one wonder if the fire chief retired on his own terms or got very tired of trying to be controlled. Hmmmm?

  13. OMG people, can we please get the facts right before the witch hunt! Listen to the video, at approx 7:52, the CAO says “cajole” NOT “control” him!! That is a HUGE error in reporting and others not fact checking. Public discussion and debate has to be based in facts not inflammatory fantasy! Our community is better than that!

  14. Sheesh Pat – I have listened more than once to the video because I didn’t believe what I was hearing in the first place. Now reading your response – I listened four more times- and I still hear “control”. Now I do hear where it could be cajole. That being the case – I looked up the exact meaning of that word and found – “to persuade someone to do something by sustained coaxing or flattery” or another wording was “to persuade someone to do something or to give you something by making promises or saying nice things.” So that being said – my last sentence from Aug 8th post could read “In my opinion – it makes one wonder if the fire chief retired on his own terms or got very tired of trying to be ‘cajoled'”. Hmmm. All my opinion from a bystander looking in. To be controlled or cajoled – that is the question.

  15. Pat – the facts remain exactly the same based upon the word cajole, so before you jump up and down at everyone, and before you defend the lack of transparency and over-reaching behaviour from our over-priced pair, know that some people take the time to research and try to get the full information, which is usually thwarted and delayed these days by the paid staff and the council too! Some people go to council meetings and watch them on the feed if busy too. Feel free to pm me so we can meet whereby which i will elucidate you on all the attempts made to garner the full story on how are tax money is being spent and how public opinion has been curtailed so to call this a democracy at this point is somewhat absurd! Your attacks on the public while dismissing all actions and renumeration of public servants is very interesting, keep it coming!

    I believe in proper democracy where the people run their town rather than the other way, sorry we disagree on that, Pat!

    • Mark – I simply want facts, not stories. I would call anyone, public or staff, out for not reporting the truth. If something is being thwarted as you say by staff, then I would like to know what it is and see proof of it. I don’t recall dismissing any actions of our public servants, and I haven’t attacked any member of the public, I have simply asked that we discuss facts. I also believe in democracy, which must be evidence based, and which I would welcome to see. You can certainly PM if you have evidence of wrong doing.

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