The way the City of Victoria operates could face some tweaks or even fundamental changes in the wake of a new consultant’s report on municipal governance that will be considered at council’s committee of the whole meeting Thursday.
In a 78-page report, released this week, accounting and business consultancy firm MNP delivered 30 recommendations touching on everything from the role of the mayor and council to financial remuneration for elected officials, a proposed code of conduct and how committees function.
“In any corporation, any governance body, there’s always room for improvement and the spirit of continuous improvement is definitely something we have embraced here over the past many years,” said Mayor Lisa Helps, who is not running for re-election in October. “I think this will really give some interesting and important information to the new council as they sit down and begin their work together in November.”
Helps said there is a lot of good direction in the report, including examples from across the country that could be put into practice in Victoria.
“You don’t really get people excited about governance, but what you do get people excited about is making sure that what we’re doing at city hall reflects their interests and their ideas and their hopes for the future of the city. Essentially, that’s what good governance is.”
The report suggests a number of changes for the mayor and council, including establishing a code of conduct, creating a policy to guide council’s actions on matters beyond core municipal responsibilities and evaluating the purpose of council appointments to external boards and committees, given council’s existing role and workload.
The report also recommends consolidating administrative authority in the city manager, saying a lack of clarity in delegated authority has created problems for city staff when receiving direction from the mayor or other members of council. It also invites members of council to weigh in on administrative matters.
According to the report, when a council gets involved in administration, it makes accountability for achieving results unclear and impedes the council’s ability to focus on governance and policy responsibilities.
John Treleaven, chair of the Grumpy Taxpayer$ of Greater Victoria, said clarifying those roles alone would be a good start. “Taxpayers want to see municipalities be excellent within the terms of reference for which they’ve either been elected or hired. And [MNP] has concluded that there needs to be greater clarity. That alone would be a great relief to everybody because it would make accountability easier.”
Treleaven said the report deserves to be read beyond just Victoria. “It is quite incisive,” he said. “And they have highlighted a number of areas that clearly need strengthening.”
He pointed to recommendations for policies to guide council’s forays into matters outside its jurisdiction, or for getting into administrative matters, or clarifying the role of council liaisons to various community groups. “Those councillors can sometimes be put in a very difficult position,” he said, noting community groups often see the liaison as someone who will advocate on their behalf.
His biggest worry, however, is that the report will sit on the shelf if the current council decides it will only be considered after the fall election of a new council.
“If the council ducks on Thursday, the new council could turn around and say: ‘Well, that was the old council,’ ” he said.
The report also touches on establishing a new policy for remuneration — reviewing salaries once per term to take effect for the next elected council, to avoid the awkward optics of having a council vote for its own salary increase.
As for committees, the report suggests using committee of the whole for informal discussion on issues requiring consensus, and to receive public delegations on matters being considered by council. It also recommends immediate ratification at council for all matters concluded at committee of the whole unless council has clear reason not to.
Helps likes the idea of using committee of the whole as a workshop and discussion forum.
“People want to touch things a million times and it’s one of the reasons that it does take so long to get things done,” she said. “The public wants more opportunity to give more input. So I guess we trade off public participation with efficiency and speed and I think we’ve got to land somewhere in the middle. So again, we’ll see what the next council does with these.”
Helps also embraces the idea of a code of conduct, noting council will be forced to adopt one soon or have to explain to the province why it doesn’t have one.
She said it’s especially important when council deals with city staff. “Our staff are the best vehicle we have to deliver council’s objectives. And when we treat them poorly in public meetings, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot. We’re taking our own delivery vehicle and giving it a flat tire,” she said. “Some of the things that are said in our council chambers by members of council are unacceptable and hopefully a code of conduct will help.”
Helps expects council will direct city staff to start working on ideas for implementing some of the recommendations in the report.
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