Council should reflect
When a large group of municipal employees show up at a council meeting together, the public should pay attention.
In more than 26 years of covering council for the Pass Herald, I have never seen anything like what unfolded at the most recent Crowsnest Pass council meeting.
Two dozen municipal employees filled the chamber wearing their Crowsnest Pass staff T-shirts, joined by their union representative. Employees were there in visible support of their chief administrative officer (CAO), Patrick Thomas. The union representative attended to address concerns about council overreach into the work of public works staff and also stated he was there in support of those union members present in the gallery.
I grew up around municipal politics. My mother served on council, and long before I ever reported on meetings professionally, I spent years watching how local government works in this community. Over decades of council coverage, I have seen heated debates, difficult personnel discussions and strong disagreements between elected officials and the public.
I have worked with provincial and federal governments and in all these years, I have never seen unionized employees attend a council meeting in a coordinated way like this. Unions typically appear before council to raise labour concerns or criticize management, not to support it.
During the meeting, CUPE Local 812 president Tyler Hoffman addressed council, cautioning elected officials against directing the day to day work of municipal staff and emphasizing the importance of respecting administrative roles. He also noted he was there in support of union members who had come to the meeting in solidarity.
Following Hoffman’s remarks, Katherine Mertz stood to inform council that numerous union members in the gallery were present in support of the CAO. At that point, Councillor Doreen Johnson called out “point of order.” Even so, the message from staff was unmistakable. This was not a small gesture. It was a collective show of unity.
Municipal employees rarely appear publicly in situations like this. Professional obligations and workplace expectations usually mean staff remain silent while political debates unfold around them.
That is why the moment mattered.
The council chamber was filled with workers. Their presence alone spoke volumes. These are the people who keep the municipality running every day, and they felt strongly enough to be there.
I spent eight wonderful years working closely with many of these men and women. I know how hard they work and how much pride they take in serving this community. I have said publicly in council meetings before that I believed the Crowsnest Pass had one of the strongest CAOs and municipal teams anywhere in Canada.
I believed it then, and I still believe it today.
On my final day as a councillor, many members of the town staff showed up to thank council for the years we had worked together. It was a moment I will never forget. Those eight years working alongside municipal staff were truly remarkable, and many of those colleagues became friends along the way.
That is why it has been deeply troubling, in my opinion, to watch what several staff members have described to me as declining morale at the town office in such a short period of time. In less than five months, what was once widely seen as a strong and unified workplace has, according to several staff members I have spoken with, become discouraged and disillusioned with the direction things are heading. Watching that happen has been difficult.
Council is elected to lead the community, but leadership also means understanding the impact decisions and public criticism can have on the people doing the work inside the organization. Behind every motion, every meeting and every political dispute are employees who still have to come to work the next morning and keep the municipality operating.
What the public witnessed that night was a municipal workforce choosing to stand together.
In my view, council should reflect seriously on what they witnessed that night. When employees feel compelled to fill a council chamber, it signals that something in the relationship between council and administration is not working the way it should. Leadership requires stability, trust and a shared focus on serving the community. Right now, based on what the public witnessed in that chamber, it is difficult to conclude that council is providing the stability municipal leadership requires.
What those employees showed that night was leadership, unity and respect for the work being done by their CAO. Council is not uniformly demonstrating the same.
If this concerns you the way it concerns me, I encourage you to reach out to your councillors. Just as the CAO reports to council, it is important to remember that council ultimately reports to all citizens of the Crowsnest Pass.