Mayor Faith Makes Statement Related to Christmas Traditions Festival
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Mayor Sally Faith – Public Statement (St. Charles City Council Meeting – Nov. 15, 2011)
I wanted to take a brief moment to thank everyone who has contacted the city of St. Charles related to the Christmas Traditions festival. I appreciate people taking the time to express opinions on the subject. It is unfortunate that what has appeared in the local news media is one-sided at best.
As you might imagine, the situation surrounding hiring the Sugar Plum Fairy character for our year-end Christmas Traditions celebration is a personnel matter. As such, it would be inappropriate for me or any other city officials to discuss related details. However, what I can tell you is the city takes great pride in ensuring the integrity of all our various events and festivals, and we have policies and protocols in place to support that end.
For the purposes of background, our Director of Human Resources extended 62 prospective offers to individuals who applied and auditioned for the part-time roles of a Christmas Traditions character this year. Out of those 62 people – two of whom were children applying for the role of Tiny Tim – a total of 61 people were able to follow the process to the letter, and, as a result, their job offers were approved and finalized. In the case of the Sugar Plum Fairy applicant, these same contingencies were not met during the hiring process.
I’d also like to add that the individual who has played the character of the Sugar Plum Fairy in past years has done a fantastic job. All of us involved with the Christmas Traditions festival appreciate her participation in previous years, and likewise, we were looking forward to having her back again this year. However, given her excessively inappropriate behavior and language at the drug testing facility and actions following this process, the city made the right decision in not rehiring this former cast member.
In fact, I would go even further in underscoring we would not hire anyone to work for the city of St. Charles who behaves in such an unacceptable manner. So the key element I would like everyone to remember is that as a prospective employee of the city, she was not fired, as she was never actually hired to participate in the 2011 festival.
As we move forward in kicking off this season’s Christmas Traditions festival a week from Friday, I would encourage everyone to continue supporting St. Charles’ year-end festivities, along with all the many fine merchants in our historic district. Thank you and I’ll look forward to seeing everyone on Main Street the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Mayor Sally Faith
I wanted to take a brief moment to thank everyone who has contacted the city of St. Charles related to the Christmas Traditions festival. I appreciate people taking the time to express opinions on the subject. It is unfortunate that what has appeared in the local news media is one-sided at best.
As you might imagine, the situation surrounding hiring the Sugar Plum Fairy character for our year-end Christmas Traditions celebration is a personnel matter. As such, it would be inappropriate for me or any other city officials to discuss related details. However, what I can tell you is the city takes great pride in ensuring the integrity of all our various events and festivals, and we have policies and protocols in place to support that end.
For the purposes of background, our Director of Human Resources extended 62 prospective offers to individuals who applied and auditioned for the part-time roles of a Christmas Traditions character this year. Out of those 62 people – two of whom were children applying for the role of Tiny Tim – a total of 61 people were able to follow the process to the letter, and, as a result, their job offers were approved and finalized. In the case of the Sugar Plum Fairy applicant, these same contingencies were not met during the hiring process.
I’d also like to add that the individual who has played the character of the Sugar Plum Fairy in past years has done a fantastic job. All of us involved with the Christmas Traditions festival appreciate her participation in previous years, and likewise, we were looking forward to having her back again this year. However, given her excessively inappropriate behavior and language at the drug testing facility and actions following this process, the city made the right decision in not rehiring this former cast member.
In fact, I would go even further in underscoring we would not hire anyone to work for the city of St. Charles who behaves in such an unacceptable manner. So the key element I would like everyone to remember is that as a prospective employee of the city, she was not fired, as she was never actually hired to participate in the 2011 festival.
As we move forward in kicking off this season’s Christmas Traditions festival a week from Friday, I would encourage everyone to continue supporting St. Charles’ year-end festivities, along with all the many fine merchants in our historic district. Thank you and I’ll look forward to seeing everyone on Main Street the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Mayor Sally Faith
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