Working through the priorities...

A blog post on anonymous commenters get over 15 comments and much media coverage, while this Feb 17th post on my 3 top personal priorities as a member of Council in 2008 gets no comments and scant media coverage.

An interesting fact to chew over. 

On one of those priorities is:

Helping the Business Community Engage in Social Issues in Our Community: That's a long title, but its an important issue. If we are really going to house the homeless, or even help people who are housed but not to their satisfaction, we are going to have find more ways of bringing an entrepreneurial mindset to the table. Business and professional people want to help on the root cause social issues because they know it is the right thing to do from almost any standpoint - moral, financial, for community wellness.

Tomorrow, I am helping facilitate a meeting that will hopefully help more business people learn about the social issues in the community, and learn how they can add their positive entrepreneurial mindset.

I am looking forward to it.

Comments

[Jason Wassing]

Arjun,

It's hard to believe that sensationalism is still what drives media, whether that be traditional media outlets or even blog comments. Trying to move on is the only (and best) thing you can do.

I think your focus on issues that make other councilors shrink into the safety of their homes and offices is what sets you apart. Continue to hit the issues that matter to you, because they matter to others as well.

I, for one, am glad we have a councilor who shows up in the newspaper for more then a ceremonial photograph. Keep doing what you do. Please.

[Correctional Officer]

This has nothing to do with this topic, but I wanted to submit something to you, if I submit this to the media, it's my job at risk:

Article:

Dear Public,

I am a Correctional Officer.

I chose my job because of the government pension, the benefits and the job security. I chose my job to make a difference in society, I chose this job for the potential to make a difference.

I get spit on. I get urine and feces thrown at me. I get assaulted and attacked. I get yelled at, swore at and called names that would make you shudder. I have been threatened; my spouse and children have been threatened. I get coffee thrown at me, TV's dropped near me and recently I have had my coffee spiked with heroin. I see brutal assaults, savage fights and suicide attempts. I check cells and other areas for weapons, drugs and other things.

I get paid 30% less than my other lowest provincial counterparts and have to work with the inmates face to face and 40 of them to boot. FYI - my higher paid counterparts work behind secure glass and monitors. They are not in constant contact with inmates as we are in most of British Columbia.

I have a little personal alarm that hangs from my uniform if I need help. No weapons. Just my wits and an alarm. And other officers who will come running if I am in trouble. I have very little training. I have six weeks of classroom dictation and hope my common sense will protect me. No clubs, no guns, no tasers, no spray. I have a radio, a pair of handcuffs and a telephone. A phone line that a crafty inmate could cut.

I work face to face with the criminals you forget about after the police have done their thankless job. I work face to face with murders, robbers, home invaders, rapists, child molesters, drug dealers, mentally disordered offenders, thieves, drunk drivers and drug addicts, to name a few. And I interact face to face with 40 of them all at once and try to watch them while I do paperwork, progress reports, reports of all kinds. Reports that need to be done or I will be reprimanded. With more inmates, comes more reports which takes away from my job to protect the inmates from each other and from harming me. I discharge people and re-admit them a week later, a month later even a few hours later. I see the failures of the justice system every day.

I work for a government that ignores the high counts and safety of it's employees. I need the support of the public - our true employers - as we are servants of the public. I work for a government that tells me the media blows a critical incident out of proportion. I work for a government that calls a prison riot that included a staff desk being set on fire in an effort to smoke me out from my retreat, a "disturbance". I work for a government that sweeps things under the carpet because it might reflect negatively on something. I feel under-valued, under-paid (but don't we all), and under-appreciated. They are so desperate for staff that they are lowing their standards of hire and hiring anyone off the street and throwing them in with 40 career criminals. It's a question of when, not if there will be another riot. All of this inexperience at the jail is when people will get hurt - badly. My in house instructors down play the dangers in hopes of retaining new staff. They lie.

I help those who want to be helped. I work hard to correct behavior of those who have lost their way and deal with the low level frustration of often being unsuccessful in that regard. For the small population that wants it, I do make a difference - but you don't hear about that. I teach programs that hope to rehabilitate behaviors that get them there in the first place. I prepare them for returning to the "outside". Sometimes I offer a statement that that most never heard. "I believe in you."

Please stop calling me a guard; I am not a "guard". I guard nothing but my safety and the safety of those who work beside me everyday.

I am a Correctional Officer.