Editor’s note: Since initial publication of this article, Cameron Bradshaw has contacted The Charlatan to claim his quotes were fabricated due to an unknown person using his Facebook account to respond to questions. The Charlatan originally noted the quotes were obtained via Facebook, and have decided not to rescind the comments.
Eric Hanson, the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) operations manager who left the organization last month, has levelled allegations of overspending and misconduct at the association.
RRRA terminated their longstanding operations manager’s contract on Dec. 31 amid allegations of overspending in the first half of the 2015-16 academic year.
Hanson has confirmed that as manager of RRRA’s finances, he believed the organization overspent from May to December 2015. Hanson said that all concerns he expressed about the spending went ignored.
Pedregosa and RRRA have declined comment on the subject at this time.
Hanson had been working with the association since 2007, according to RRRA president Graham Pedregosa. Hanson’s contract was not renewed by the association this year.
“[Hanson’s] contract was up for renewal and we decided not to renew the contract, and we have hired a new operation manager with operational experience,” Pedregosa said.
Hanson said he was told the association was under pressure to hire a new, cheaper operations manager, and that he offered to renegotiate his contract, but his offer was rejected.
“I requested to renegotiate my contract with [Pedregosa] to complete the fiscal year and end April 30, 2016,” Hanson said.
However, Will Verschuren, former RRRA president during the 2014-15 year, said the association began exploring the possibility a new operations manager during his time in office.
“He was a good guy, but he was just anti-change, didn’t really want to progress with the association,” Verschuren said via phone interview. He added Hanson was making $24,000 a year as operations manager and the association wanted to hire someone for less money.
Verschuren said Hanson was not let go of during his year due to a transitional period between Abstentions managers, and that he was needed for his institutional knowledge.
“I talked to him and he agreed to stay on for the next six months, and then we all knew by the end of the that we would be making a change to the accountant,” Verschuren said. “He knew, we knew, everyone knew.”
However, Cameron Bradshaw, RRRA’s vice-president (administration), said via Facebook he was only told Hanson’s contract would not be renewed for 2016 after the decision was already made.
A new operations manager, Chris Thompson, was hired by RRRA on Jan. 1, according to Pedregosa. Bradshaw said he was not consulted during the hiring process.
“[Pedregosa] had gotten in contact with another accountant who would do the job for less money and hired him,” Bradshaw said.
“One day I was told that we would not be extending the contract,” Bradshaw said. “I didn’t question it though because I trusted that [Pedregosa] was making a good decision.”
Hanson has confirmed that to his knowledge, other RRRA executives were not consulted on the hiring process and the job was not posted.
“There was no posting for this position and the other two executives knew nothing of this decision,” Hanson said. “There was no interview process or team management panel.”
Hanson also stated that no executives other than Pedregosa were involved in the decision not to renew his contract.
Hanson told The Charlatan that he believes he was not renewed because his salary was high, and confirmed that he offered to negotiate a long-term, lower salary. Hanson said Pedregosa did not entertain these requests, including requests to meet with RRRA’s financial review committee.
“[Pedregosa] stated the financial review committee was not interested in meeting with me and it was not a possibility,” Hanson said.
RRRA has spent a significant amount of money in the first semester, according to Bradshaw and Hanson. Bradshaw added Hanson warned the association about overspending, which Hanson confirmed.
“We have no budget left for the second semester because of [the overspending],” Bradshaw said. “[Hanson] said that if RRRA kept on spending like it did we would be in trouble.”
Because of the spending, Bradshaw said the annual residence formal will not be held this year, but that Pedregosa has told him that if RRRA spends no more money this semester, they can still finish the year with a surplus thanks to revenue from Abstentions, the RRRA-run convenience store in Residence Commons.
RRRA could not provide The Charlatan with a copy of their budget at this time.
Pedregosa, who was questioned about Hanson and the possible overspending during the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) vice-president (finance) debate, said any rumours Hanson was being let go due to overspending by RRRA are untrue.
“Our financial situation is good,” he said. “My executive will back me up on that.”
Verschuren said Hanson disagreed with RRRA’s spending habits during his own term as president.
“Eric Hanson always complained about almost any and all programming spending,” Verschuren said. “It doesn’t surprise me when I hear that he said that they’re overspending again, because his opinion of overspending is different than the norm.”
Despite being a RRRA executive, Bradshaw said he has not seen any financial statements other than this year’s operating budget and added he does not believe there has been full equality between the executives.
“I for one didn’t have much to say in the concert that we had on the 16th,” Bradshaw said, referencing the iLoveMakonnen concert hosted by RRRA. “I also don’t know the exact amount we have spent in programming and sponsorship this year.”
Bradshaw said he wishes there was more transparency between the RRRA executives and council.
Hanson said he enjoyed his work as operations manager and stated the work he performed for RRRA was “to keep the business integrity.”
He added he would be willing to return to the association.
“Should the newly-elected RRRA students commencing May 2016 wish to renegotiate my services, I am available to assist,” Hanson said. “They could reach out to me.”
– With files from Sam Lehman, Kathleen Saylors, and Nadine Yousif
