Policy that led to the banning of residents has been under the microscope for several months.
Stratford’s much-maligned respectful workplace policy that caused contention between the municipality and a few city residents earlier this year may soon be seeing major changes.
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Councilors are set for an in-depth discussion of the policy — used in April to ban a trio of city residents from municipal property — at their Monday evening council meeting. If they accept the recommendation from Stratford’s director of human resources, the current respectful workplace policy will become three: One for council, one for city employees and one for members of the public.
The report prepared by human resources director Dave Bush and CAO Joan Thomson notes that staff, as directed by council, did review three separate options for the existing policy. This included separating the current policy into three separate policies; removing the public portion of the current policy while focusing on the code of conduct for members of council, boards and committees, as well as the policy for employees; and, finally, keeping the policy as is.
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The city’s human resources department worked with an employment law firm that specializes in workplace investigation and workplace audit services related to allegations of bullying, harassment, discrimination and sexual harassment to review the current policy. Collectively, it was determined that three separate policies was the preferred option. As the report notes, “There appears to be confusion in the current policy as members of the public, elected officials, local board and committee members, and staff are all layered into one policy.”
“Creating three separate policies to address behaviors clarifies the responsibilities, the policy impact, the format applied and proper procedures to follow should it be necessary,” the report states.
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This staff recommendation comes six months after the respectful workplace policy was first brought into the spotlight. In April, Stratford residents Mike Sullivan, Barb Shaughnessy and Ken Wood were banned from all council meetings and city properties for three months after unspecified events that happened at a Feb. 26 council meeting. These bans led to three separate city meetings being canceled when Sullivan and Shaughnessy tried to attend.
This included Sullivan trying to take part in a May 28 regular council meeting and a June 18 finance and labor relations subcommittee meeting. On June 24, Shaughnessy entered council chambers roughly 30 minutes into a regular council meeting, prompting Mayor Martin Ritsma to cut the session short.
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In July, Coun. Cody Sebben — often a dissenting voice on council — made a motion to suspend the controversial policy altogether.
“The policy set out to create a better atmosphere and workplace. At least from my opinion, it’s certainly done the opposite of that. The past months have been very, very tense at council,” Sebben told the Beacon Herald at the time.
The events that have unfolded around the policy also led residents to tell Sebben they’re worried about voicing their disagreement with other unrelated city policies, he said.
“Instead of encouraging engagement in the community, it’s (done) a lot to discourage it. . . . It takes a lot for somebody to get involved in the first place and come and speak to council,” he added.
On the same night that council instructed staff to review the policy, Sebben’s motion was defeated by council in a 9-2 vote, with only Coun. Geza Wordofa joining in support.
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