David Trawin a good pick for City’s top administrative job

Dave Trawin at City Hall during Wednesday morning's announcement.

In some circles, City council’s choice for its next chief administrative officer is a surprise.

There are many reasons, though, that David Trawin will be the kind of CAO who will be good for Kamloops. I say this not only because I worked with him when he was first recruited into City Hall eight years ago, but because of what I’ve come to know of him since.

He was part of the new wave of fresh faces brought in by Randy Diehl as the ranks of departmental managers were depleted by retirements.

Diehl was one himself. Though he’d been around awhile as the City’s planner, his hiring to the top job after Joe Martignago moved to Victoria brought a new way of doing things to the City’s administration.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to handpick his lieutenants to replace outgoing veterans, Diehl surrounded himself with comparative youngsters from out of town. Succession planning is always an issue but his choices proved to be inspired.

When the long-serving Dennis Kujat retired, Diehl hired ex-footballer Byron McCorkell as the parks, recreation and culture director. McCorkell is credited with stick handling the challenging Tournament Capital infrastructure file to successful completion.

Then, City engineer and public works director Ernie Kurtz also retired, and Dave Duckworth — who competes in triathlons in his spare time — was hired to take his place.

Diehl then transferred Len Hrycan from the planning department to head up corporate services, and brought Trawin down from Terrace as development and engineering services director.

Now, with Hrycan close to retirement, Trawin will have his own chance to handpick one of the three top department managers. And should Duckworth or McCorkell decide to move on to other opportunities, there could be further change.

Early in his tenure in the planning department (he is an urban planner, not an engineer, which he’ll point out to you if you get it wrong), Trawin seemed at times to struggle with the massive workload dropped on his shoulders, and it took time to adjust to the spotlight when called upon to speak on projects his department was involved with.

He doesn’t take over a room; he doesn’t dominate a conversation.

But he has grown steadily in the job. He’s stronger, more confident of his abilities. He doesn’t blow his stack. Throughout the parkade-at-the-park fiasco, for example, he remained cool, collected and professional even though he was under a lot of public pressure for his role in it.

I’m guessing council looked at such things and was influenced by the fact Trawin enjoys working things through with a team.

Not long ago, I witnessed an example of his collaborative style. The Graffiti Task Force was doing good work but from an organizational standpoint it was verging on dysfunctional. It needed somebody to help come up with a plan.

The task force board asked Trawin to facilitate some strategic planning. He did so over several evenings, and everybody in the room was impressed with the way he kept them on track, made sure all had a say, and pointed them in the right direction.

That sort of skill can be learned, to a point, but a lot of it has to come natural. It’s one of the strengths Trawin will bring to the City Hall board rooms.

 

Hiring a new CAO not for the faint of heart

If ever there was a time for mayor and council to acknowledge their limitations, this is it.

A stopper needs to be put in any delusions that hiring a new chief administrative officer is going to be easy. Sending out a few emails and putting a couple of ads somewhere (or maybe a tweet?) is the sort of thing the neighbourhood corner store might do for hiring a kid to stock the shelves, but it falls short in picking the City’s top bureaucrat.

It is, if you’ll excuse the expression, ignus fatuus.

If you look around the council table, you won’t find a lot of experience in this. Among the nine of them, how many senior City officers have they hired?

The answer is, none. Even if you count the two that the mayor has been involved in with the regional district, that comes to an average of 0.222 per council member.

There’s nothing surprising about that — no Kamloops council has had to hire a CAO for more than a decade. Experience in hiring in their own businesses and vocations ranges among councilors, but it doesn’t appear overwhelming. Those who do have some background in it will understand the challenge.

The adage that he who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client is useful here — a council that does its own hiring is on thin ice.

I don’t, of course, propose that council let someone else make the decision. But the process is not for the faint of heart or the inexperienced. Council must begin by defining the kind of person it wants, someone who will “fit,” then wade into the marketplace to identify candidates, doing reference checks, and grilling the contenders.

In other words, council needs a headhunter, which is just another word for recruiter, someone who knows the corporate world, and knows where to look. Someone who doesn’t sit around waiting for replies to ads or emails, but who recruits.

Then, the headhunter shortens the list and prepares council, and the candidates, for interviews. Even with instruction, interviewing candidates, especially at this level, is not a skill learned overnight (and, while the HR department is often good support, it can do only so much).

I came across a column this week called “The headhunter,” by a guy named Nick Corcodilos. Admittedly not neutral on the topic, he nevertheless has a lot of smart things to say about hiring top managers.

He writes, for example, about the “hidden candidate pool…. That is, they’re not looking, but they’re available.”

Employers who try to do it all themselves are simply hiring from what they think is available, not what might be — like shooting at whatever fish happen to swim by, says Corcodilos.

Make no mistake — even with the help of a headhunter this is no day in the park. The real work begins with the shortlist, and hiring by committee is not easy, beginning with the inevitable absence of at least some council members at pretty much every interview.

When the interviews are done, nine people will have to get together and compare incomplete notes.

They don’t need the distractions of having to deal with their own mistakes.

Would a headhunter be expensive?

The more important question: What would hiring the wrong CAO cost the taxpayers of Kamloops?

mrothenburger@kamloopsnews.ca

My two lives with City CAO Randy Diehl

Whenever Randy Diehl gets really cheesed off with somebody, his first impulse is to reach for the phone. After resisting that temptation, he writes a scorching memo or email.

Then he lets it simmer for 24 hours. If it’s still a little too hot, he gives it more time.

I’ve been thankful for this practice, on a few occasions over the past six years, after being on the receiving end of his discontent. Avoiding first impulses is but one of Diehl’s strengths.

Many have known him longer, but for roughly half of his years as the City’s chief administrative officer, I was his colleague (and, technically at least, his boss).

For the other half, I’ve been, in a sense, his critic.

But I can tell you that during all that time I’ve admired his administrative abilities. Comments this week lauding him for bringing a new sense of direction and leadership to City Hall are not over-stated.

He won the job in December of 2000. It wasn’t handed to him; he had to fight hard for it.

A head hunter came up with 65 applicants, short-listed them to a half dozen, and turned it over to council. All of them were exceptional, several already holding comparable jobs in larger cities.

Like a jury in a court trial, members of council began divided but eventually were able to make a decision. Diehl has made those civic politicians, of which I was one, look pretty damn smart.

He was fortunate, in a sense, that some others in the administrative staff were reaching retirement age, which allowed him to pick the people who would work for him.

One of Diehl’s greatest strengths has been his ability to bridge the gap between council and administration while retaining an appropriate separation of church and state.

Any government is tested by the juxtaposition of political decision-making with administrative decision-making, and it can be lethal. Diehl’s office door was always open for members of council, a big change from the way things had been done for many years.

This new model was made official when we as a council created the first comprehensive strategic plan, and Diehl tied it directly into a clear corporate plan. This keeps policy maklng in the hands of mayor and council, but allows administration to carry out that policy with minimum interference.

Part and parcel of this approach is Diehl’s personal style. He empowers staff to manage, treats them well and is a popular leader. When they are criticized publicly, he bristles, and he defends them, but if they need to be pulled in for a pep talk, he’ll do it, and they get the message.

My relationship with Diehl has been entirely different since I returned to The Daily News six years ago. He knows well that public servants and media exist in a constant state of tension, one that he’s wary of.

There are times when I’ve believed Diehl to be flat-out wrong, and he’s made a few decisions I continue to believe were wrong (I’m guessing the sentiment is returned).

But I challenge anyone to name another municipal CAO who comes close to his standards. The standing ovation he received in council chambers this week when he announced his May 1 retirement date was sincere, and totally deserved.

Behind Closed Doors — Life at City Hall Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 — BEING MAYOR

This is Chapter 10 in a series of articles — which I started in 2008 — written for this blog about my years as the mayor of Kamloops. It’s intended for anyone who has an interest in how civic government works.

“Do you live in a palace?”
- Favourite question from primary school class about being mayor.

“I need your advice,” said the man in my office.

His name was Reg (I won’t use his last name as there’s no way I’d want to embarrass him) and he had a problem. Usually, when people ask the mayor for advice, it’s their way of saying, “I need your help.”

Reg came to see me at one of my open houses in that first year in City Hall, the year 2000.  I held them once a week, and advertised them as a no-appointments-necessary opportunity for anyone to talk to the mayor. I was a little surprised but pleased by the enthusiastic uptake, as I wanted to be accessible. I answered my own phone, went out and door-knocked every once in awhile (seeing a politician on their doorstep between elections tended to blow people away); one day I even stood out at an intersection with a “Have a Great Day!” sign. But that’s a story for another time.

Reg wanted a dog. More accurately, he wanted to save a dog, and he needed help to do it. He was in his 40s, still in his working prime, but had been unemployed for some time due to an injury suffered in the logging industry. He showed me how the scarred arm was slowly healing, but he had little use of his wrist, and he still had little strength in his hand.

As editor of the paper I was used to all kinds of people coming through the front door with many a story that turned out not to be true, but I believed Reg. He’d been to the animal pound and fallen in love with a big Husky cross. Trouble was, he couldn’t come up with the $75 the City of Kamloops wanted as an adoption fee. No $75, no dog.

“What kind of sense does that make?” he asked me. “I can give this dog a good home, yet if I don’t pay the fee they’ll put him down. How does that help anybody?”

I asked Reg to leave it with me. I went straight to the office next to mine, inhabited by Wayne Vollrath, the City’s corporate services administrator. Animal Control and Bylaws reported to Wayne, a friendly, low-key guy who was a true student of municipal government. At the end of a day, we’d often sit in his office or mine and turn seemingly mundane topics like civic finance and policy setting into philosophical discussions.

The "First Fam" as some people liked to call us — me, Syd, and Jacob — with friend Coun. Dave Gracy. Finding downtime for friends and family isn't always easy for a mayor.

Wayne was sympathetic, but he couldn’t support releasing a dog without payment of the fee.  It would set a precedent of inequity in application of City policy.

I got that and didn’t push it — I never once asked for favouritism for anyone, whether it was a parking ticket or a bylaw or policy of any kind. Instead, I pulled out my chequebook  and wrote a personal check to the City of Kamloops for $75, with the notation “Re: Dog — Reg.”

“Give him the dog,” I told Wayne as I handed him the cheque.

I came across that cheque not long ago. On the back is stamped, “Deposit to the City of Kamloops Animal Control. . . Animal 1/CWHITE.” It reminded me that the satisfaction of being mayor isn’t always about big announcements or public laurels. Nobody ever knew about Reg and his dog except him, me and Wayne. And when Reg showed up at the mayor’s open house day not long after with a big, beautiful, well-behaved — and very much alive — Husky cross, it was more than enough thanks.

The job description for a mayor can be divided into two parallel streams, roughly equal in load but clearly and separately defined. One is the administration of political office, the other is being the public face of the city.

I enjoyed them equally, but I was surprised how much I enjoyed the public duties of being mayor. I’m shy by nature, and being the centre of attention doesn’t come easily to me. I’m probably the worst schmoozer in the world. As a youngster,  I had friends but I was definitely not Mr. Popular. In my teens, I was one of those guys who had to write out a script and worry for days before screwing up the courage to phone a girl for a date.

The one thing that saved me is that I’m not a bad actor on stage. I could sing a solo in a Christmas concert or play Cassius in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar a lot easier than I could strike up a conversation with a stranger.

As a newspaper editor, I sat on many a panel and made quite a few speeches and was comfortable in front of a microphone. As mayor, public speaking wasn’t a problem. In fact, I love crafting a good speech and making a good delivery.

But the other parts were easier than expected. I soon discovered that when the mayor is invited to something, steps are taken to ensure he’s not left on his own. He’s met at the door, properly introduced, and made comfortable. You don’t have to walk in and take over the room; the work is done for you.

Over time, I became less and less apprehensive. I no longer felt edgy as I entered a reception, a wine and cheese, or a rubber chicken luncheon that are the staple of business and public life in any city. If I found myself alone, I could even interject into a circle of strangers without worrying that I might be butting in to some private conversation.

Walking down the sidewalk, I had to leave extra time to get from A to B because of the number of people who would cheerfully greet me as “Mayor Mel!” or stop to chat or bring up an issue. Even the street people called me by name, and some enjoyed a politically discussion as much as anyone.

I found that the mayor is the one people want at their important events. Councillors are welcome, but the presence of the mayor is what makes it. I worked hard to be there. My predecessor sometimes sent his secretary to represent him at sod turnings or ribbon cuttings and I didn’t want to be a sender of messages. One councillor complained that I wasn’t letting other members of council fill in for me often enough — how could I explain that if someone is opening a new store or announcing a new program or holding a fundraiser, having a councillor as the City’s representative is considered second best?

This was a good thing, because there was nothing I could have done about it anyway. Barrie Ogden, my administrative assistant, kept track of my appointments in a big book that sat on her desk (the age of electronic calendars hadn’t quite taken hold), and that book was full every day. I went from committee meeting to staff meeting to luncheon to ribbon cutting to wine and cheese to dinner and the day rushed by. Being a newspaper editor is a great career but in some ways it’s a desk job. As mayor, the constant change of scenery was invigorating.

Some mayors profess to be uncomfortable with being treated like a mayor. They act embarrassed when they have to don the mayoral gown and chain of office, and they eschew the “Your Worship” honorific as if it’s too pretentious. I didn’t. It’s not the person who’s being feted, it’s the office of being mayor, and it’s one that we should respect.

I had the names of every mayor of Kamloops, with the years they served, engraved on the backs of the links in the chain of office (there are two, a smaller one that’s been around for many years, and a bigger, more ostentatious one presented by then-Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Campbell when the City was amalgamated with surrounding towns in 1972. It’s a bit tinny, and I liked the older one better. The two mayors who succeeded me have both used the older one as well). When I put on the gown and placed that chain of office around my neck for some formal occasion, I felt proud to be representing the people of Kamloops. Maybe that sounds corny, but the feeling was genuine.

I dressed for the job, too. Casual is okay on Fridays but when you’re mayor it doesn’t cut it the rest of the week. I bought several new suits and wore a tie every day. A mayor should look like a leader. Staff would often notice that my car was still in its spot as they left work for the day, and I think they respected the fact that I made it a full-time job and then some.

So many things happen in a mayor’s day that are new and exciting and that just make life so damned interesting. For example, who holds a 100th birthday party for a centenarian without asking the mayor to bring happy birthday wishes on behalf of the citizens of Kamloops? And when the mayor does come, everyone is so pleased. What they don’t know is that the mayor is the one who’s honoured to be there, to talk with someone who so richly deserves recognition, to learn just a little bit about a life well-lived.

How about being piped into a banquet with the head table? Or riding in a convertible in a parade? Or being referred to as “Our beloved mayor” at an event held by one of our multi-cultural associations, or cutting the official Canada Day cake, or doing an Elvis impersonation in front of an exhibition hall full of seniors, or speaking to new Canadians as they take their oath of allegiance?

If that doesn’t do it for you, how about meeting mayors, governors, cabinet ministers, premiers, prime ministers, and spending a day with our governor-general? No? Then how about signing an international agreement at a ceremony at the Great Wall of China, or in a remote Sri Lankan village?

You think being mayor isn’t fun? It’s a perpetual joy.

NEXT: A busy first year.

Who will win in Kamloops on November 19

Only a total knucklehead would try to predict the outcome of the Nov. 19 Kamloops civic election at this point.

Pleased to meet you, my name is Knucklehead.

Peter Milobar will be re-elected mayor. He will not get a majority, but he will come close. Dieter Dudy will come second, Frank Stewart third, Brian Alexander fourth and Gordon Chow fifth.

That was easy. The candidates for councillor are a little tougher.

These are safe: Pat Wallace and Marg Spina. Ken Christian, though he won’t do as well as a lot of people expect, will joint them. And I’d add Nancy Bepple into this group.

Having a good shot at the remaining four spots will be Tina Lange, Chris Ortner, Donovan Cavers, John DeCicco, Peter Sharp, Andy Philpot, Nelly Dever, Arjun Singh, Brenda Prevost and Raymond Nyuli.

If you want to push it, I’d say the top six will be Pat Wallace, Marg Spina, Ken Christian, Nancy
Bepple, Donovan Cavers and Arjun Singh in that order. Do not hold me to that — I’m not yet ready to cheese off my friends and influence my enemies. That will come later.

Making a good showing but probably unsuccessful will be Aaron Duczak, Brendan Shaw, Dino Bernardo and Chad Moats. Longshots are John Noakes, Ayren Messmer, Greg Power, Donna Shedger, Dennis Paget, Bryce Eberle.

Suddenly, boring election became a lot more fun

Be careful what you wish for.

Up until lunchtime today (Friday), nobody was interesting in being mayor of Kamloops save for the incumbent. Within a very short time, there were five candidates.

One is new to civic politics; the rest — if not household names — come with previous experience.

Dieter Dudy runs Thistle Farms and represents the only “fresh face” among them. Though an unknown in civic affairs, he could well provide the most lucid challenge to Peter Milobar.

After filing his papers Friday afternoon, Frank Stewart went AWOL for the rest of the day, but his name was on the ballot representing the Green party in the 2005 election in Kamloops south.

“It’s been an enlightening experience for me,” the retired railway engineer said after the votes were in.

He, too, may prove capable of articulating an alternative voice.

After that it gets a little bit goofy. Brian Alexander ran third in the 2008 mayoral election. He’s a hothead who can go from a reasonable discussion to angry insults in a second. Peter Milobar, sitting near him in the audience at the raucous ACC town hall meeting a year and a half ago, had to shush him.

He runs a profanity-laced website savaging politicians, and a couple of years ago he was banned from city hall for scaring staff. That was worked out when he signed an agreement to behave.

Late last year he started making the news as a “freeman on the land,” insisting Canadian laws don’t apply to him. He got a forum in court after he was stopped for speeding and refused to recognize the authority of the RCMP officers.

In court, he insisted his name was brian-arthur: Alexander.

Last January, he issued a manifesto titled CONSENT TO BE GOVERNED BY OLIGARCHY TYRANNY? NO THANKS, in which he railed against Stephen Harper.

“What’s next?” he asked, “a law against picking my nose or scratching my ass, check points at every corner, mandatory DNA testing, micro chipping of every man/woman/child to control every aspect of life?”

He vowed that authorities “will have to yield their authority as freemen blossom in numbers like flowers on a spring day.”

The mind boggles at the prospect of Mayor brian-arthur: Alexander.

But that’s not all. Gordon Chow is back. He’s been a candidate before, entertaining the electorate with his unique style. He is, to put it clearly, a character.

He is an associate of entrepreneur Stan Brevik, who has expressed his own special view of local politics on occasion.

On the one hand, this field assures a choice of sorts for voters. On the other, that choice becomes no choice at all. If Milobar had faced only Dudy or Stewart, the protest vote could have made the outcome interesting.

With protest votes now divided among four opponents, Milobar is pretty well assured of an easy trip back into office. But, at least there will not be a debate of issues.

Meanwhile, the TNRD election, usually a snoozer, got more interesting as well. For one thing, Roland Stanke is stepping down as mayor of Clinton to challenge electoral area rep Sally Watson, who took out papers for Clinton council, then filed only for her old TNRD seat.

MONDAY: Who will win, who will lose.

Should we change the way we elect our mayor?

With only days to go, still no one in sight for the mayor’s job other than incumbent Peter Milobar.

I figured Chad Moats might go for it, but he announced yesterday he’ll run for one of the eight councillor seats instead.

I think what deters a lot of people from running for mayor is that you get only one shot at it. Either you top the polls, or you lose.

But with council, you get eight tries. You might have a couple of dozen opponents, but the odds are better. Even if you trail far beyond the top vote-getter, as long as you’re at least a vote ahead of the ninth best candidate, you get a seat on council.

There’s also a misconception that you need experience as a councillor before you can be a legitimate contender for mayor. Not so, thought that’s the usual career path.

I know there are a lot of people out there desperately seeking somebody to oppose Mayor Milobar, but they’re coming up blank. The mayor, by the way, told me yesterday I should be more concerned about the fact so few people are interested in running for school board.

While the board does important work, it remains that when nobody wants the City’s top job it does not speak well of community engagement. This begs the question of whether the mayor should be chosen from among those elected to council rather than directly by the voters. That might create more interest in City council elections in general, but it’s far better that the mayor be responsible directly to the voters and not beholden to councillors.

That issue, in turn, however, opens up the debate about whether a ward system is better than an at-large system. There are pros and cons to both, but I remain convinced that, for a city our size, at-large is better because it’s less prone to parochial grandstanding.

 

Apathy running rampant in River City mayoral race

Surely to God this city is not so bereft of leadership that it cannot generate a single candidate beyond the mayoral incumbent for the upcoming civic election.

The highest office in the community is open for competition, and there is not a single taker, no one to step up and say, “I think I have something to offer, I think I can do better.”

What we do have is the carpers and whiners, the bitchers and complainers who foul our websites and pages with condemnations and mournful musings about how bad things are.

Surely, somebody must want to be the mayor. (Daily News photo)

But nobody who will take the trouble to get two signatures on a piece of paper and take to the stage to articulate an alternative view.

Has Peter Milobar been a poor mayor? No, overall, but his first term has left room for challenge, at least. Just last week, for example, he voted against a federal review of the Ajax mine proposal. Is there anyone who thinks the mine is the biggest issue facing Kamloops in many years and who believes it deserves the closest possible scrutiny?

Apparently not, at least not enough to warrant tossing their hat into the ring and putting forward a platform on what City Hall should be doing about the mine. Or about the parkade. Or City spending. Or smart meters, Or a municipal auditor. Or a performing arts centre. Or bike lanes. Or better transit service. Or social housing.

How about an overall vision for Kamloops. Have you detected one from this mayor and council? Do you have one of your own?

Do you believe Kamloops deserves a full-time mayor who doesn’t divide his time between other jobs?

Running against something or someone, however, isn’t enough. You have to stand for something as well.

This is what you do. You pick up a set of election papers from City Hall. You get two, count ‘em two, people who think you wouldn’t be a total disaster, who are willing to sign as nominators.

You fill out the rest of the form and turn it in at City Hall before the deadline this Friday.

You let the media know you are in the race. They tell the community that you want to be mayor.

Then you have one pile of fun running for the job. If you should get elected, you are in for one of the most rewarding experiences in your life. If not, the experience of running in a municipal election campaign all by itself is worth every minute.

But, please, do not sit around crying the blues about how our town is going to hell in a hand basket and complaining about this mayor or about this council if you don’t have the backbone to get off your butt and do anything about it.

And if you simply can’t do it yourself, support someone who can.

The all-time soaring apathy with which this community is approaching the election is appalling. These people spend tens of millions of our dollars every year but apparently that’s not important enough for anyone to put up his or her hand.

For the first time in memory, Kamloops voters might not be going to the polls to pick a mayor in our civic elections.

Voter apathy? What about leadership apathy?

The case of the lewd graffiti and the giggling bylaws officer

Brian Cassell’s job is to chase trouble. Sometimes trouble turns around and bites him.

Cassell, a City of Kamloops bylaws supervisor, has a way of making news.

There was, for example, his tireless prosecution of Abbey, a tail-wagging Golden Retriever who had the nerve to step onto a city sidewalk to greet neighbourhood kids.

Vicious Golden Retriever Abbey harrasses terrified school kids, as owner Ed Odgaard looks on. (Daily News file photo)

Then he redefined skateboards as litter. In that one, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that levying a $500 littering fine on a woman who planted a skateboard in a snowbank was “frivolous.”

On another occasion, Cassell reduced a dog-owner to tears outside a courtroom by warning her the pet would be put down if her fine wasn’t paid pronto.

A lawyer once claimed residents were being “duped” into paying bigger fines than they should, and Coun. Denis Walsh was moved to call his tactics “heavy handed.”

Last week, Cassell was in bylaws court for a graffiti case. About 15 minutes into the proceedings, Cassell broke into a fit of the giggles, and was told twice by Justice of the Peace Joan Huges to leave. He declined.

Cassell told me this week his loss of control had nothing to do with the testimony being given about the lewd nature of some graffiti on a Hydro box, which involved a naked woman.

“It had nothing to do with that.” Rather, he said, it had to do with a question the prosecutor had asked a witness. The “slip of the tongue” amused everyone in the courtroom, he said.

“We all laughed; the judge snickered a bit.” But he wouldn’t say what the “slip” was.

The tape of the proceedings, which I got access to at the Law Courts today, offers no clues in that respect. As a witness describes the likeness of a nude woman, prosecutor Courtney Aubichon is making it clear it’s a drawing rather than a photograph.

I could detect nothing in the way of a “slip,” nor could I hear Hughes uttering anything like a snicker.

Immediately before Hughes asks Cassell to leave, Aubichon says, “I request this be entered as Exhibit One,” in reference to a picture of the graffiti.

Maybe, to Cassell, that was hilarious.

Why didn’t he leave the courtroom when the JP singled him out?

“I just couldn’t stop laughing. It was just the totality of the incident as it unfolded…. I turned my back to the whole proceedings to wipe the tears out of my eyes…. I apologized to the court.”

As to the laughter that continued out in the hallway after the case was done with, that was “a wholly different issue.”

All in all, however, not the highest level of professional conduct we might expect from a civic employee. His bosses agree.

“His behaviour was inappropriate and he’s not to be doing that ever again,” said City CAO Randy Diehl. “In our view he should have walked out of the courtroom…. I’m not happy about it.”

In effect, Cassell is on notice to shape up.

Does he ever get the idea he’s simply destined to make the news, and not in a good way?

“It’s not my choice to get into the news,” Cassell said. “I never thought in a million years it (his bout of the school-boy tee-hees) would make the news.”

Cavers takes lead in high-tech civic-election campaign

DONOVAN CAVERS is getting to be a familiar face, especially with bus riders.

In the midst of dreary debate about permissive tax exemptions and traffic bylaws and open-pit mines, it’s good to know our civic lawmakers are able to cut through to the important things — such as fashion.

During Tuesday’s City council meeting, James Peters of TV7 got into a Twitter exchange with candidate Arjun Singh, with the latter claiming to be “very well dressed. lol.” (He was in jacket and tie, though with white socks.)

To which Peters replied, “True, but @petermilobar has upstaged you by breaking out the pink shirt and tie.”

The mayor, sitting out a conflict of interest in his office while council debated a liquor licence amendment, then tweeted in, “The pink plays well wirh (sic) the blue in my eyes. Thanks for noticing.”

Indeed, Milobar’s pink outfit would be better left in the closet. But the point is not another discussion of ties or even yoga pants or other Kamloops fashion faux pas; rather, the use of technology in politics, specifically the election campaign.

As of this writing, there are officially five candidates for councilor (Peter Milobar was on his way to City Hall on Wednesday afternoon to file for mayor), though many more have taken out nomination papers and announced their intentions to run.

More than a few have entered the electronic age; some have been familiar with it for quite some time.

Singh, for example, started his Your Kamloops blog years ago and has turned it into an election platform, in addition to Facebook and Twitter. Of all the candidates, including incumbents, he’s the most consistent blogger, and his content has the most depth.

Of those I’ve seen, second-time candidate Nelly Dever is probably second to Singh. Though her website is a bit cheesy (do we really need to watch a video discourse on the shape of her earlobes?), it’s easy to navigate.

And, of course, she’s on Facebook. As are Nancy Bepple, Chris Ortner, Marg Spina, Ray Nyuli, Donovan Cavers, Milobar, and John DeCicco.

(Under his achievements, by the way, DeCicco lists “upgraded Cariboo College to full university status.” Hmmm.)

Nyuli has a blog and is to be commended for setting up pages on it dedicated to the parkade and Ajax mine, but I wasn’t able to open them.

So though lawn signs and newspaper ads will still play a role, the electronic age of campaigning has clearly arrived.

Cavers, though, is using an additional, and different, type of technology — the bus wrap. He’s getting fine mileage out of putting his face and message on four City transit buses.

Some of that mileage comes courtesy CHNL’s cranky-pants editorialist Jim Harrison, who gave Cavers a thrashing this week over his stand against a secret meeting with KGHM Ajax, and his bus wraps.

Which gave Cavers, ever alert to opportunities for “earned media,” a golden opportunity to capitalize by calling a press conference for this morning to respond.

Fact is, those bus wraps are drawing more attention to Cavers than all the Tweeting and Facebooking and blogging of the other candidates put together.

He says most of his campaign budget is going into the bus wraps. At this point, it would seem to have been a wise investment, and earns him this week’s prize for best use of technology.