00:07 - 25.01.06
penultimate
Well hello dear diary, I didn't forget you. I've just been so bone tired and stressed since last Tuesday that I've gone straight to bed when I got home, so that I could be certain I was able to survive until Monday's election. One week of not writing to you means I have a lot of logo therapy to go through before I feel normal again.
When we arrived at the office on Wednesday, my tech in tow, I went to check if the crash of the computer system the evening before had been dealt with. Nope. Still couldn't get in to the EMS questions that I hadn't been able to transmit the evening before. That was the "why" for that little scenario last night talking to one of the support desk people in Ottawa about the movie "Men With Brooms". He had assured me that I would not be penalized for the failure of the system. I had been told that last election when the same thing happened repeatedly, but those "trouble tickets" were wiped out of the database at head office shortly after the event. Most Returning Officers across Canada were not paid their $500 that is part of the conditional "performance based" wages that we are paid. We all were set up to lose that part of our income. It means that even with considerably more responsibility than our second in commands, we ended up making less than $1000 more than them even though they get time off as well during the event, while most Returning Officers don't. Given all the partying my second in command took time off for over the Christmas season and all the time off she has taken for child/household related responsibilities as well, it is likely that by hourly calculations she will make more income than me.
As I was starting to focus my thoughts on the tasks of the day, my tech arrived from his first round of morning routines. He looked really serious - which is very unusual for him - and shut my door behind him as he entered my office. He sat down and told me I would be hearing from one of his emergency contacts fairly quickly about those unanswered questions from the evening before. I was puzzled, but allowed I still hadn't been able to get in to that software program to submit the required answers. He said that she had told him that they had received a transmission from or through our software that indicated answers had been sent. She was questioning some of the statistical data, because it didn't true up with what had been submitted previously. I was just a bit stressed with that news and even moreso with his confirmation that my attempts to eradicate the name of that one person on the list, who was threatening violence at advance polls, had not been allowed by the head office group on upload. It had been defaulted back to the original form. Great. Means a whole school full of hundreds of children and teachers, as well as my polling day staff of about 30 and any voters present at the time, was now at risk if he returned with his wife so she could vote. We sat and discussed the various options that could be tried to remove the couple in a way so that we wouldn't have to wait until an upload occurred to proceed with the printing of the elector list. My tech returned to his office to try out various scenarios. We agreed that no action to print the final list would be started until at least noon, so that he had enough time to complete that work. The rest of the tech staff, including me, continued to strike off all the names of people who voted by advance poll or special ballot, so they wouldn't be able to try and get a second ballot at the regular polling stations. Once those strikes are through a name, there is no way a ballot can be provided to an elector because the Deputy Returning Officer who has their polling division has that list of struck names with them.
As I was working on my preparatory tasks, staff buzzed in and out of my office asking for information and direction as required. Most were relatively considerate, but there were a few polling day workers who, even when I was on the phone or computer, were very annoyed that I wouldn't stop and chat with them about their jobs or personal lives. I have a trainer and several knowledgeable recruitment and support staff to deal with the 500 to 600 people who will work on polling day, simply because I can't get any of the tasks I am required to perform by head office completed by deadlines if I stop even briefly to chat. Their timelines do not allow for any downtime for me. All the in-office staff were asked to take time to watch the training videos and go through the training manuals while on their regular shifts, specifically so they could meet the demand for information and clarification from the polling day workers. One couple were really rude while I was on the phone trying to get some of the technical problems with our system fixed so our data entry staff could get the strikes completed. They were demanding immediate attention from me personally and became quite mean-mouthed about how unfairly I treated the "little people" - like them. I guess if they actually understood that they wouldn't have jobs if I didn't focus on what I have to do, they wouldn't be so ignorant in their behaviour. I don't have the time to stop and explain that to each of those people trying to butter up or impress the boss. What impresses me is people who take responsibility for themselves and who work as diligently at their tasks as I work at mine. Undermining me or bad-mouthing me aren't really all that impressive. Constructive suggestions are always welcome, of course. I do encourage them from staff members who show me that the two conditions I mentioned above are part of their work ethic. Oh well - I've groused about my supervisors too from time to time, haven't I dear diary.
About an hour to noon, my tech's emergency contact called and we had the discussion necessary to enlighten her about the ghost (or ghost-like) transmission of the EMS questions that had occurred after we had left for the night before - sometime between 10 pm and 9 am on Wednesday. She suggested that maybe one of my other staff had done it on my behalf. Most other Returning Officers print out those questions, then delegate the transmission to their tech or supervisory staff. I explained about the break in and some of the security problems I have written about to you over the past two elections. I explained that I had neither printed those questions out nor given anyone my password to that software program. There was one day when my second in command made a point of coming and standing behind me while I was logging in, but I was very careful not to let her see what I was keying in - at least I didn't think so. At some point, paranoia gets really strong and one begins not to trust anyone. After that training list going missing, I had taken to locking up everything in my office and then locking my door even when I went for bio breaks - that extra time caused some near accidents as a result, but who does one trust after a while. Don't know.
My second in command is still quite hostile about the fact that she didn't realize the staff phone calls were monitored randomly by head office, even though it had been part of the discussion at the beginning of her tenure. Guess she just had laughed it off and forgotten what I told her. Instead of being angry with me, I think maybe she needs to take responsibility for not saying things on government lines that she doesn't want head office to hear. What would it be that she was saying that would make her that angry when that it was overheard. Don't know.
Anyway, not much I could do and moving forward with the next phase of our preparations was more important than her hurt feelings. Most of the staff, who were not directly answering calls coming in from the public, were calling the polling day Deputy Returning Officers to come pick up their ballots and voting kits so that they could do their final preparations. We were still recruiting, hiring and training people as well; sometimes finding all our placements were completed, sometimes finding we had hired enough staff to back up for sick or missing poll workers, sometimes losing ground as people called in to cancel their commitment to work. Why? Pay issues mostly. The wage per hour is not much above standard starting wage in this city. The 15 hours required for working through to the end of polling day was also a factor. We had also emphasized the fact that all the paperwork undertaken on polling day were legal documents that required careful attention to detail, as well as a strict adherence to the procedures set out in training to meet legislated requirements. Not much incentive to work that hard or take on that kind of responsibility for minimum wage, is there. It isn't like the "old days" when one person in the team tore off the ballot and then received it back, while the other team member either drew a line through the name on the voters list or wrote it in the register. No paperwork or responsibility then past balancing the names to the number of ballots issued by each team.
My assistant had become close friends with one of the other asssistants in Calgary when they went for training in October last year. She calls him on a regular basis and they compare notes. Apparently he has "stolen" a lot of our techniques to present as his own to his Returning Officer. She said he was stating that he intended to take over that Returning Officer's position next event. Kind of scummy behaviour if you ask me, but I don't know if it was said in jest or not. My assistant said that he had stated that 40% of the people their office had recruited and trained for polling day had quit already. Same story coming out of most of the other Returning Offices in Calgary would indicate that it was a common problem. We would find that happening to us on the weekend, although I don't know if our numbers ever got that bad.
As that part of the drama was unfolding, the work on the list, the street key and the poll key was continued to try and get an accurate list printed. More calls from the head office about our database security issues. It was 6 pm before we had the one person and his spouse removed so it was safe to proceed. Between all the logistical issues mentioned above and the technical ones too, it was just about one in the am before we went home.
Thursday I emailed the head of security about the concerns about the one man's threats and the problems that had occurred during advance polls because of the "palace coup" that the one candidate's internal enemies had attempted. I couldn't predict if they would be attempted again on polling day in some variation at any of our polling stations. I was asking permission for additional security measures at those voting destinations. Not the $10 an hour position that was allowed in the tariff either. A real security guard trained for crowd control was what I was after. Their services start at at least two to three times that wage per hour. We are required to have a security guard in our office on polling day. We had asked the one advance poll team, who were retired peace officers, to provide that service to us. They were doing us a favour by helping out, but I don't know anyone else like them to recruit. I don't want someone at a polling station without some kind of backup support in place. None of us have that training or expertise. I was asking the head of security for some further instructions I could provide for my polling station supervisors as well, hoping to learn better skills myself. No response until Sunday on that one and he basically stated that he didn't think there would be any trouble. No approval to hire meant my hands were tied. That would play out in some upsetting ways on polling day.
Thursday we started to really have a flood of workers coming through, picking up their gear as soon as we could assemble it. Because we had already had to fight so hard to get enough hours to pay staff for last payroll, it meant we had very few payroll hours left to hire enough staff to truly do that work. For example, each book of ballots has to be gone through and checked for integrity. Then all the serial numbers have to be recorded and assigned to each one of the poll officals. We have 227 polls and 99,000 ballots. The prescribed calculations for each poll's share of the printed books of ballots has to be followed to the nth detail by law. Each DRO has to pick up their gear personally and sign for those ballots by serial number, as well as for their other paraphenalia. Attention to minute detail and documentation of every piece of the legal documents is a time consuming, exhaustive process. When that material goes home with a DRO, we find that there is a flood of calls from them asking for information and clarification. I like those because it means that the person is taking their work seriously and is thinking the process through. It does mean a lot of my time is tied up with researching and responding to the more technical legalities that are not clearly defined in any of their or our manuals. A lot are contingent on the circumstances and the "if this, then that" scenarios. All have to be defined and conveyed in a consistent manner. As the Central Poll Supervisors (CPS) talk with their DROs they start to think about their roles and even more information has to be prepared and conveyed. That while trying to write the reports required by the police about the one incident from the past weekend, as well as all the documentation required by head office including the tracking of the problems with the technical problems we have experienced.
Questions and research required as well by the various candidates and political parties. The two most likely to have a shot at the member of parliament position becoming very contentious and demanding. A lot of setting boundaries, both for workers and the political foes trying to jockey us into a position where our office could be used as a weapon against their rivals. Feels like walking a tight rope without a net sometimes. A visit from our printer and her assistant is the one bright spot on Thusrday. Just two very nice women. The one just back from her honeymoon in Cuba brings digital photos and promises me a large copy of the one showing white sandy beach kissing deep blue tropical sea. She said I could meditate in front of it to lower my blood pressure. That would help immensely even though tat this point I am having trouble finding time to take any bio or food breaks. When I try to get to the staff rest area, I am accosted constantly by different people needing questions answered or help with their tasks.
The calls coming in from the public are becoming quite abusive, as those who have not read their two delivered- to-their home voter cards call and yell at my staff for their failure to take responsibility for themselves. Meltdowns are an issue and I have to find time to spell people off or to let them vent as required. That has been the case throughout, but now it is becoming very frequent. Calls from the media. I would like to respond, but we have the equivalent of a gag order, as you may have gathered dear diary. We are required to vet all calls through the regional media advisor and she makes certain that we are not allowed to talk with them or do interviews. Just the press release material is allowed out and it provides very little meat for reporters to work with. I think too that they are often misled by the regional reps - maybe because the reps are not knowledgeable either - about a lot of the technicalities and issues that have to be addressed by us. It is hard for a good reporter to find the information they need because they sometimes don't know the questions that need to be asked. I know that we have enough trouble ourselves digging out the information we need when head office refuses to respond to very pointed questions. I can't imagine that the media would find it any easier.
When we have trouble getting the answers we need Returning Officers talk among themselves and work out strategies together. The days between the end of advance polls and the weekend before the vote we are constantly on the phone to each other trying to find someone else encountering the same issues. One office sends their staff over to pick up supplies they never received from head office. We send one staff member off to drop off supplies to another office. I loaned a tv and vcr I had rented to one other office, because they couldn't find one for a reasonable rental cost elsewhere. It is actually cheaper to buy some of the equipment we are required to rent but that is forbidden.
The school boards both call and state that they can't come up with enough tables and chairs to furnish all the polling stations they have rented to us. One principal wants to change the room we have rented for another, even though he is well aware that the other room isn't big enough to accommodate the thirty polling day staff, let alone all the voters and political observers. Another principal is very distressed, both because he can't find the supplies he is required to provide for us and because of the amount of time it is taking away from his responsibilities to his students and staff. I commiserate with him when he talks about all the extra work the board requires him to do that obstructs his ability to do his own job and to meet his responsibilities for his students and staff. He takes great pride in his work, but finds he is constantly blind-sided by demands he can't meet without compromising his core responsibilites/goals for his school. It is obvious he isn't faking either, because his secretary chewed me out for upsetting her boss before I even got to speak with him. Good lady that, acting like a bull dog to protect and support him. I'm fortunate to have a few staff members like that too. We finally find some solutions when I tell him that I would be happy with any flat surface that is about 36" off the floor - it doesn't have to be called a table if it serves that purpose anyway. My only requirement is that it hold a voting screen that allows an elector the opportunity to mark their ballot in secret. If two sceens have to be fitted onto one table, as long as both screens shield the voters from each other, as well as observers in the station, that is all I ask. He signs off much happier than when he started. Both of us have just lost another half hour out of our time trying to find common ground rather that doing our jobs though. At least there is no hostility or hard feelings though.
About that time, I get a call from the local rep. "I want this now" citing several tasks that would require severals hour of work that do nothing to move us forward in our preparations for polling day. My calculations of my time on task from that Thursday morning on, is that I have just enough time left to cover off the essentials given all the side issues that keep cropping up. She becomes really aggressive and tells me that this resistance to her demands could be noted on my evaluation. I point out that information has already been supplied through the EMS questions to head office and reported in other ways as well. Some of the information she is demanding isn't available yet either, so how can I report what I haven't got. She is wasting, yet again, way more time and energy that I have left over to spare. I have several staff in the office all needing immediate attention and angry public to deal with so my staff don't have to deal with the more abusive or ignorant callers. I have classes to attend for training polling day staff, each of which requires my presence for close to an hour. Which bio breaks am I going to forego now. Most of the days now if I have one quick meal I consider myself lucky. It is usually choked down as I am meeting with or answering questions from my staff. I don't even know how much or what is being eaten by me anymore except that it never feels like enough. Everyone in the office is exhausted and stressed and needs extra assurance, support and positive motivation to keep them going. I explain all that to her. She just becomes more aggressive in her demands. She finally signs of by nearly hanging up in my ear, when I tell her it will have to wait until I can do my core tasks. I try to calm down, but don't think I can handle another call like that from her. I close my door and call head office. I meant just to ask head office to back off on their demands until I can get staff in place and all my preparation done, only to find that what she was asking wasn't mandatory or all that important from their point of view. It is 6 pm, I went to bed at two am the night before and was up at 5 am to work at home before going in to the office. Sleep deprivation over several nights, in addition to the fact I haven't eaten yet that day, is my excuse for having a meltdown with the support person on the other end of the phone. Fortunately she has been a Returning Officer too and puts up with the tears well, just talking about her experiences and letting me have my cry. That takes another half hour of my time, on top of the half hour wasted on the phone with the rep, but at least some of the stress is diffused for me. Don't know how that one will play out, because I asked that that rep be asked to leave me alone to do my job for the last three days before the vote. Don't care at that point and notice that the calls and demands from her and head office cease except for essential business. Friday, Saturday and Sunday pass in a blur with more of the same tasks required with more intensity and stress each day.
On Wednesday I increase my blood pressure medicine even though I resent the need to do so. Up my vitamin and herbal medicine intake as well, hoping to replace the lack of nutrition and also to try and help my body fight the severe ear infection that seems to have come out of nowhere. I can't hear much on one side and my head aches continuously on Thursday and Friday. I had a doctor's appointment scheduled on Wednesday, because I had to go downtown to conduct some business with one of the political parties in the same area. That meeting took about half an hour, then I was able to see my chiropractor at the same building, easing the back spasm. The additional time at the doctor's office to get the check up and prescription I needed to fight the infection wasn't possible. I'd already lost an hour and a half. To top it off, some of my staff, including my assistant, were acting out so I couldn't risk any more time away. Bought mega garlic doses - Russian penicillin don't you know - instead. It took those two days for it to kick in and I'm certain I earned the title "Stinky Rose" - the European name for garlic. By Sunday I could hear again and my headache was manageable, both from the chiropractic adjustments and the alternate medicine. Good thing since in the last week before the election the shortest work day I had was 16 hours. No rest for the weary I guess.
Weary I am now too dear diary as it is after 2 in the am. Election day was very "eventful" so I think I will write about it tomorrow when I can do it some justice. Good Night.
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