Executive reshuffle at Citywest?

General Forums Prince Rupert Forum
1

So what’s happening down there in the executive offices of Citywest, the last municipally-owned telecom in western Canada, which just happens to be owned by us, the citizens of this town? Or did I just happen to miss something while perusing the pages of our local viewpaper? Somehow I don’t think so.

The company seems to be embroiled in constant controversy, at least among us common folk, reviled by some citizen-customers for its’ dated technology and service issues, but steadfastly supported by others, particularly for its’ contribution to the local employment base.

CEO Bill Craig, a veteran and much travelled communications executive, took over the top job and presented a stark assessment of some problem areas and a new vision to our elected leaders in June 2011, as reported in the Northern View: thenorthernview.com/news/124656463.html

The following statement is particularly memorable, suggesting as it does that Mr Craig would bring a no-bs management style to the company, something that even its’ sternest critics would perhaps welcome:

“There’s a lot of disorganization in the company, things that are being done because the company’s been around for a hundred years. It’s come through a City environment. It hasn’t really had some of the disciplines of a commercial environment. The managers before me were always managers previously of city governments”.

Less that two months ago Mr Craig and other senior officials presented an annual shareholders report to the City council, noting progress in some areas and ongoing challenges in others, but with no suggestion that things were going anything other than reasonably well:

thenorthernview.com/news/175888611.html

That was then and this now: a review of the Contacts section of Citywest’s recently revamped website notes that the CEO is not Mr Craig, but former Operations Manager Don Holkestad.

citywest.ca/about-us/company … gement-bio

What is that all about and what does that bode for the future? Will there be a return to past ways of thinking and doing things at corporate HQ? Will annual financial statements that were once available online, but that mysteriously disappeared during the recent revamp of the website, be restored so that citizens can gain some insight at least into the financial performance of the company?

A big selling point for Citywest has always been that it is locally owned and controlled, in contrast to the big monoliths of the telecom sector headquartered in far distance places. Does that local touch and just plain folks neighbourliness go so far as to mean that the mostly local board members will shed some light on the company’s current leadership and future direction?

The most recent news bulletin on the corporate website, dated 4 December, is that someone won a 50” TV as a result of the paperless promotion draw. That’s nice, but perhaps the City’s communications company might find itself able to communicate a bit more about the current state of affairs.

And what of our rather taciturn mayor and councillors, who let us recall are the sole shareholder of the company, with power to appoint the board of directors and set the company’s dividends? In the interests of transparency, which all espouse during election campaigns, is there anything that they can share with the electorate about the state of the City’s largest single investment? We know quite a lot about their generally negative assessments of how the Port runs its’ business. Is there anything that the council members can tell us about the business that they ultimately control?

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http://i.imgur.com/ebH9Ol.jpg

3

How long have you been sitting on that one?

Anyway, change is not necessarily a bad thing for Citywest. Would be nice to find out what happened to Mr. Craig. Somebody want to do the FOIPPA thing? Does it apply to Citywest, since it’s publicly-owned?

I don’t think the new CEO has had any “we asked around and nobody wants it” moments. And I think he’s a pretty smart guy.

Still, I think that Citywest would do just fine under private ownership (I’d buy shares). Just like many other local companies. There’s no reason for a broke City to own a company that competes with private enterprise.

Those who argue that jobs would be lost if Citywest weren’t a government-owned company need to look around and see that there are many companies that aren’t government-owned that are, in fact, capable of employing people. It’s really ironic to hear so-called right-wingers defending the City owning a company that competes with private enterprise.

4

no most defend citywest because if you need a line installed for cable, phone, or internet the wait isn’t that long, ask ppl living elsewhere how long it is to get services to their dwellings from either telus or bell? and if it was sold you wouldn’t have that service anymore, and yes they could probably be run more effieciently too

5

Why would Citywest owned by shareholders be worse service than Citywest owned by Prince Rupert?

Why do you think things would necessarily get worse just because the city doesn’t own it?

Are you saying that no businesses out there can provide good service unless they are owned by the City of Prince Rupert?

I disagree.

6

Yes, that is true, I remember that there wasn’t much of a wait for line installations, but then again like a growing number of people I haven’t had a landline for a few years, and over the past year I haven’t had a wired internet connection either. As we move into an increasingly wireless world, the prompt line installations of the copper wire era are less of a competitive advantage.

Even leaving that aside, Bill Craig’s personal line installation experience was less than satisfying:

"Craig’s own experience as a customer has also been telling. He waited half a day to get telephone service, but three and a half weeks for cable hook-up.

'When the twisted pair guy came to my door, he couldn’t give me cable. I was stunned, and said it says CityWest on the side of your truck. You’ve taken two hours out of my time and you can’t give me cable?”

It was a case of different unions being able to do different things, but for Craig it was indicative of some of the things that need tweaking’" (Northern View,28 June 2011).

I liked Mr Craig’s idea of a wi-fi network throughout downtown and Cow Bay, available to customers and visitors. With a compact built-up area perhaps there was longer-term potential for Rupert being ahead of the technological curve for a change. An innovation like that could lure me back, at least as an internet customer.

Of course, greater reliance on wireless technology would no doubt make some workers redundant as well, so perhaps those ideas were not as well received within the organization as they might have been among current and past customers.

7

[quote=“BTravenn”]So what’s happening down there in the executive offices of Citywest, the last municipally-owned telecom in western Canada, which just happens to be owned by us, the citizens of this town? Or did I just happen to miss something while perusing the pages of our local viewpaper? Somehow I don’t think so…

The company seems to be embroiled in constant controversy, at least among us common folk, reviled by some citizen-customers for its’ dated technology and service issues, but steadfastly supported by others, particularly for its’ contribution to the local employment base…

That was then and this now: a review of the Contacts section of Citywest’s recently revamped website notes that the CEO is not Mr Craig, but former Operations Manager Don Holkestad.

citywest.ca/about-us/company … gement-bio

What is that all about and what does that bode for the future? Will there be a return to past ways of thinking and doing things at corporate HQ? Will annual financial statements that were once available online, but that mysteriously disappeared during the recent revamp of the website, be restored so that citizens can gain some insight at least into the financial performance of the company?

A big selling point for Citywest has always been that it is locally owned and controlled, in contrast to the big monoliths of the telecom sector headquartered in far distance places. Does that local touch and just plain folks neighbourliness go so far as to mean that the mostly local board members will shed some light on the company’s current leadership and future direction?

The most recent news bulletin on the corporate website, dated 4 December, is that someone won a 50” TV as a result of the paperless promotion draw. That’s nice, but perhaps the City’s communications company might find itself able to communicate a bit more about the current state of affairs.

And what of our rather taciturn mayor and councillors, who let us recall are the sole shareholder of the company, with power to appoint the board of directors and set the company’s dividends? In the interests of transparency, which all espouse during election campaigns, is there anything that they can share with the electorate about the state of the City’s largest single investment? We know quite a lot about their generally negative assessments of how the Port runs its’ business. Is there anything that the council members can tell us about the business that they ultimately control?[/quote]

Many valid points, perhaps in the New Year, some of our City councillors could move on from their goal of becoming Crown Prosecutors (especially in environmental items of note) and instead focus in on why they were elected in the first place, some of our Council members seem to take a lot of our civic time expressing some more personal or professional viewpoints, many of which have little to do with the day to day running of a financially struggling city.

Instead, perhaps they could provide some oversight of things that the city has some control over, you know roads, taxes , local economic development (you know commercial and light industry and all of that) and hey a telephone company.

They could ask a few questions in public for us, asking for some background on the financials, dividends, cost of expansion you know all of that.

As for what seems to now be the past CEO, be interesting to know if Mr. Craig’s departure, if for corporate reasons, is going to cost the City anything in the way of severance or some such added expense.

However, if the recent City Council Q and A from the CityWest briefing earlier in the fall is any indication, asking financial questions is a no no, such seems the silence all the time whenever CityWest comes up for discussion.

Might be helpful if CityWest were a tad more transparent with the public as well, come to think of it same could be said Council.

8

The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA) applies to a municipal corporation like Citywest in the same manner as it applies to the City itself. ‘Personnel matters’ are protected from public disclosure, but if there is a severance agreement it has to be disclosed if an FOI is filed. (The Information & Privacy Commissioner of BC ordered the City to release a severance agreement earlier this year after they denied an FOI.)

The company may not know what to do with an FOI - perhaps no one has ever filed one - but if they look at the definitions section of FOIPPA a “local government body” means
(a) a municipality,
…
(n) any board, committee, commission, panel, agency or corporation that is created or owned by a body referred to in paragraphs (a) to (m) and all the members or officers of which are appointed or chosen by or under the authority of that body,

Citywest is a corporation created and owned by the City, the City council is the sole shareholder and appoints all of the directors.

Quite a lot could probably be learned about Citywest if citizens file FOIs asking for whatever they are interested in.

9

Is CityWest considered a crown corporation? The city is the sole shareholder, but does that mean they are under the same FOI rules as a government body? I thought that was why Citywest was formed, so that they were not just a department of the city.

I’d be interested to know a few things that go on there. Not sure how FOI request work, but I think you have to know the proper questions to ask to get answers, I don’t think you can just go “browsing” for information. Surely someone from the media on here would have some insight as to how this works.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to see them sold off like some of you on here. I think we are much better having them here then Telus or Rogers, but some of the things they have done make me shake my head.

10

No, a Crown corporation is a corporation owned by the Province or by Canada.

[quote=“Politically Incorrect”]The city is the sole shareholder, but does that mean they are under the same FOI rules as a government body?
[/quote]

Citywest is subject to the same FOI rules as the City and any other public body under Provincial jurisdiction (federal bodies are subject to different rules).

[quote=“Politically Incorrect”]I thought that was why Citywest was formed, so that they were not just a department of the city.
[/quote]

Citywest is not a department of the City, but it is subject to the same FOI rules as the City. That didn’t change when the City created Citywest. FOIPPA applies to public bodies, which includes any municipality and any corporation created or owned by a municipality if the officers are appointed by or under the authority of the municipality, which is the case with Citywest. See my earlier post for more details.

Go to this link to read about your information rights, how to make a request and the public body’s duty to assist you: < bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws … _division1 >.

You should make your request as specific as possible. If your request is too broad you can be charged fees for the cost of searching for and compiling the information. If you are specific, though, it is unlikely that you will be charged a fee (the public body’s right to charge fees is regulated under FOIPPA).

I would hope so.

11

Have you found anything further on this story? I have seen nothing about it with the local media, whether paper, radio or TV, would be interesting to know more!