ELORA – Wellington County officials admit it was a mistake for a senior employee to use a county vehicle and staff for personal business – and they’re vowing it won’t happen again.
“It was a very unfortunate, isolated incident,” said county CAO Scott Wilson.
“I think a decision was made by a senior staff member that she normally wouldn’t make.”
On April 11 and 12 Wellington County Museum and Archives administrator Janice Hindley used the museum’s van and two of its maintenance workers to help with her personal move from a house in Elora to one in Fergus.
She told the Advertiser she used the van as a last resort, after discovering she had more items to move than would fit in the 26-foot Bristol truck she had rented from a local business.
“I panicked and thought, ‘I’ll check to see if the museum van is available,’” Hindley said in an April 17 interview. “It happened to be free and I used it.”
She stressed she paid for use of the truck and the two museum maintenance workers with her own money and the employees helped out on their lunch and break times.
“They never would have compromised their work for the county,” she said.
Wilson, who said he was not aware of the situation until afterwards, acknowledged some county staff members are provided use of vehicles for their jobs, but Hindley is not one of them.
“That van is to be used to move artifacts. It’s not to be used personally,” Wilson told the Advertiser.
“I can understand the temptation to [use the van] and then regret it later … she’s paid for the use of the vehicle, but that doesn’t address the bigger issue.”
Hindley stressed she was not trying to conceal her use of the museum van. In fact, it was likely the large decals on the side of the van, clearly marking it as museum property, that drew the attention of her neighbours, Hindley conceded.
“I’m sure they were curious … I can understand that,” she said.
Elora resident Donna Ecclestone said a group of neighbours were surprised to see a county vehicle and employees used for a personal move.
“I didn’t want to make a big deal about it,” said Ecclestone, one of the individuals who alerted the Advertiser about the incident.
“My intent was to just have awareness of it. People are watching what our council and municipal staff are doing and they should be held accountable for their actions.”
Hindley said she would have informed her neighbours exactly what was happening had they asked her in person.
“I guess you never know who’s watching you,” said Hindley, who noted she was “shocked” anyone would contact the newspaper about the incident.
“There’s so many more serious problems and issues in the world,” she said.
Wilson said he understands why Hindley made the hasty decision to use county resources, as “everyone knows … how stressful it is” to move.
But, he added, that doesn’t excuse the behaviour.
“There’s no good way for me to put a good face on this. I see it from the taxpayers’ perspective, 100 per cent,” said Wilson.
“[Hindley is] a dedicated civil servant … and she’s embarrassed that she may have embarrassed the county.” He concluded, “At the county we do most things right all the time … sometimes we slip up.”
