A soap opera in front of our very eyes.

And this all for a maximum fine of $2,000?

This is all becoming quite ridiculous. What a waste of court time that can be used for better purposes.

Good grief. Drama, drama over something not as serious as a speeding ticket ! What a waste of time and money ! If the people at City Hall are as weak as Master Bates suggests they need to get another job. Sounds like business community is right; City Hall is definitely dysfunctional. Skakun needs to be booted out after he gets his $50 fine.

I agree. Starting to sound like personal vendettas and backbiting culminating in a needless court case.

As for Skakun, he obviously made an error in judgement,one that anyone could have made given the right circumstances but, I think he has paid for it in spades. Enough already.

"Good grief. Drama, drama over something not as serious as a speeding ticket ! "

The allegations are a hell of a lot more serious then a speeding ticket.

It's ridiculous. Fearing for her safety? Give me a break. And yes, the City is dysfunctional, and staff morale is in the toilet, but not because of any leaked document. Morale took a dive ages ago.

Mr Skakun was given a position of authority and confidentiality. If he is found guilty he should have to resign. He would no longer be trust worthy and obviously is judgment would be lacking.

People seem to be forgetting how this problem started. When the complaints came from employees at the police station, it should have been looked into. I voted for Brian Skakun and I do not want to see him resign. He is not the real guilty party. Why was this report confidential?? Was City Hall turning a blind eye to it??Brian Skakun is very trust worthy and has been a very good Councillor, so he might have slipped up , he has done his best to talk to and help the people in Prince George and thats more than I can say about a lot of the Councillors past and present . Munoz safety? I am sure she is capable of taking care of herself.

I agree with "bitter".
Also, I am supporting Mr. Skakun and
he deserve more support not smear campaign!

Please, do tell, what else has Skakun done ?

So bitter, are you suggesting Skakun had to do what he did because people were not taken seriously ? Good defence.....ahhh GUILTY ! Just pay Skakun's $50 fine when he gets it. No common sense, waste of time and money and Skakun needs to get the boot out of City Hall or be escorted out by the police !

Brian Skakun has many freinds in this city and I'm sure he has the best oportunity forf the Mayors seat--- if he wants it. I sure hope you take it Brian and I am sure your friends would like to see you go for it as well.

If he had not leaked this stuff do you think we would have heard about it?? A Top Cop is involved.
TY B. Skakum

"If he had not leaked this stuff do you think we would have heard about it"

Did we need to hear about it?

Did anything change as a result of our hearing about it?

If not, should something change?

I would think that is what we need to take away from this. I could do with a bit less "As the World Turns" reruns.

"The allegations are a hell of a lot more serious then a speeding ticket."

Not any more they aren't! You don't even get a trial for speeding and you lose your car for 90 days, which could affect your family and your job. They won't be taking Brians car away.

I think Mr Skakun will be a far more popular person after this case and this is turning into a trial of the city hall for failure to inform the public.

This is why your taxes are so high. The people running this City are complete whack-o's!

We got a new police chief directly because of this report being leaked. The RCMP tried to put a different spin on it but, in my opinion, they were finally forced to take some long overdue action. It appears obvious that Mr. Skakun is guilty of this crime but it seems equally obvious that there were shenanigans going on at city hall that needed to be reined in. I believe that, in this case, the ends justify the means. This was information (conflict of interest, harrassment, failure to protect city employees)that the citizens of Prince George not only had the right to know, but the responsibility to stop. Mr. Skakun - this action, although likely illegal, has made me a firm supporter and has secured my vote.

We got a new police chief directly because of this report being leaked. The RCMP tried to put a different spin on it but, in my opinion, they were finally forced to take some long overdue action. It appears obvious that Mr. Skakun is guilty of this crime but it seems equally obvious that there were shenanigans going on at city hall that needed to be reined in. I believe that, in this case, the ends justify the means. This was information (conflict of interest, harrassment, failure to protect city employees)that the citizens of Prince George not only had the right to know, but the responsibility to stop. Mr. Skakun - this action, although likely illegal, has made me a firm supporter and has secured my vote.

Sorry for the double post. I only hit the "Post Comment" button once so I'm not sure how that happened. I just refreshed my screen so I guess that's what did it.

Nice speech tiemens1 but not reality. Elected officials are expected to act within the laws or change them. Shenanigans that needed to be reigned in ? Following your logic it would be okay for Skakun to release any information he wants if it is for the public good. Who decides what is the public good ? Skakun ? This is such a waste of court time and taxpayers money. Skakun is guilty and is going to get a minimal fine, $50. As always, the only winner is the lawyer. Skakun is not fighting for children here, not feeding the hungry, not giving shelter to the homeless. He is beating a drum of stupidity at tax payers expense and he needs to be booted out of city hall ! He should be accountable for his actions and pay the piper, like he expected his release of information would do to others! GUILTY !

I second that motion!!!!

Boon ..... what is you opinion about the following?

http://www.10iacc.org/download/workshops/cs60a.pdf

Essentially what we should know from City Hall is what processes were/are in place for internal "whistleblowing".

Who decides what is in the public good? I would hope that City Councillors would be the those people as well as City managers at the highest level.

So then the question is what if one person's opinion is different than another's? The norm is that the group decision prevails.

What if one or more cannot support that? Options?
1. stay quiet
2. resign
3. whistleblow internally
4. whistleblow externally

The first two, in this case, would not have satisfied Skakun from the looks of it.

The third may not have been available or have been met with a resounding "tough beans".

So the final option was the only one available. As we are hearing, it was a tough choice.

From the linked page:
"For all the above reasons there is growing acceptance of the case for a new approach to whistleblowing. With the changing nature of employment, globalisation and the increased flow of information, there is also a recognition that THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH OF TRUST AND CONFIDENTIALITY IN THE WORKPLACE CANNOT BE RELIED UPON TO OPERATE AS IT DID THROUGH MUCH OF THE 20TH CENTURY. While trust and confidence is of critical importance in any community or organisation, to be effective it cannot be blind or unquestioning.

"Whistleblowing cultures which emphasise internal reporting are a means by which the abuse of trust and confidence can be checked and by which asymmetrical accountabilities of those within the workplace can be understood and developed. If the organisation is prepared to promote and implement such a culture, any risk of it being hijacked by petty vendettas will be minimised, if not removed."

Who should run this City, the taxpayers or unelected staff. Taxpayers elect council to run this city and they must look after our interest. If the unelected staff is keeping information from the taxpayers then it is council's job to go public. Nothing should be private as it public money that pays for everything that comes out of City Hall.

With respect to whistleblowers. This is kind of timely.

http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/home/former_integrity_watchdog_failed_to_do_job_ag_finds/4a2c5cee

"The woman appointed to act as an advocate for public sector whistleblowers not only failed to do her job, she herself engaged in "inappropriate conduct" with her own staff, the auditor general says in a scathing report."

I think my quote above: "THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH OF TRUST AND CONFIDENTIALITY IN THE WORKPLACE CANNOT BE RELIED UPON TO OPERATE AS IT DID THROUGH MUCH OF THE 20TH CENTURY" seems to be rather timely.

I think the soap opera aspecgts of this trial is not something we should dwell on. I think we need to dwell on some much more important and fundamental issues - why this happened and what is in place to provide people such as Skakun a proper opportunity to have their concerns listened to so that they can be dealt with internally to everyone's satisfaction and people do not have to leak information to the media.

Boon,you do not like Brian Skakun , what did he do to you?? This should not even be happening.

Sounds to me like Munoz is just as good at leaking information that was given in confidence! She needs to leave City Hall as well.