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Bell: What's the story with ex-city bigwig Mac Logan?

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Simple question. It is our money after all.

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Did Mac Logan score extra dough when he and the city said sayonara earlier this month? If there was a severance package, how much taxpayer kiss-off cash did he get?

For those following the intrigues of city hall, Logan’s sudden exit was a shocker.

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The individual in question was a big deal downtown. Councillors loved him.

Logan was the point man on all things transportation, handled all the big files, the Green Line LRT, got into the argy-bargy over southwest bus rapid transit, talked up a city fuel tax, took the heat for the many Calatrava bridge screw-ups.

Logan was a longtime fixture in city hall’s big blue playpen.

Then we heard through the grapevine he was on leave. Nenshi confirmed it and said not a syllable more. We never did find out how long Logan was on leave or whether he was being paid while on it.

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We prodded further. A statement from Jeff Fielding, the city manager, said he and Logan reached a mutual decision to part ways. Fielding would not comment further. Standard procedure, you know. Personnel matter.

Your scribbler approached the city’s communications types. This move was far less likely to succeed than a Hail Mary pass in football. At least in football, sometimes somebody makes the catch.

In case you didn’t know, the job of city hall communications is to communicate as little as possible.

A day of waiting by the phone and then the city replied. There had been confidentiality discussions. They were not at liberty to discuss the details. 

Was there a confidentiality agreement between the city and Logan? They were not at liberty to discuss the details.

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What you are hearing now is the sound of a certain scribbler’s skull banging against a brick wall.

By this time, city hall was rife with rumours of why Logan left. When councillors were asked about Logan, they would clam up and walk away. A few had that look. How dare you ask?

But it could involve spending city taxpayer money, was always the reply. By this time, the newshound barking the questions would be by themselves, like a dog tied up in the backyard.

At Monday’s city council gabfest, Coun. Jeromy Farkas put himself further in the city council doghouse by asking about the cost of Logan’s departure.

He didn’t get an answer. He got the city’s talking points. For the baby boomers in the room it sounded a lot like Sgt. Schultz on Hogan’s Heroes.

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Outside the city council chamber, Nenshi said: “Don’t know. Can’t say.”

Really wanted to ask if Logan could now be hired by a company looking for work on a big-money project like the Green Line. Would there be a cooling-off period where Logan couldn’t sign on with an outfit?

By this point, all we hear are the sounds of silence.

On to the government of Alberta. The folks up in Edmonton are much easier to deal with than the city. Really.

The Alberta government type says with senior officials departing as Logan did they would post the amount of severance when the province’s Sunshine List got updated.

The Sunshine List shows the salary and other benefits of higher-paid provincial government employees. The city has no such Sunshine List. City council didn’t want one.

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The Alberta government also says if the severance of the senior official becomes a matter of public interest — you know, questions from the press, politicians and others — they could release the severance amount earlier.

They have done so in the past. 

One more run at Farkas. By the councillor asking how much any severance to Logan costs, does that mean he doesn’t know anything about any bye-bye bucks?

“Sometimes you ask the question to ensure the public gets a response,” he says.

So, Coun. Farkas, do you know about any severance for Logan or do you not know?

“Even responding to what I do or I don’t know breaks the confidentiality.”

We don’t know for sure why Logan left the city. We don’t know for sure if he got a parachute or how golden a parachute, if he got one. We should know.

“As long as the taxpayers are footing the bill the taxpayers should be informed of how their money is being spent,” says Colin Craig of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

At city hall, this is a sentiment tantamount to treason.

rbell@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @sunrickbell

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