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Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014
COUNCIL NOTES
Photo: Metro Creative Services
All of St. Albert city council’s expenses — not just the mayor’s — will be under the microscope after council’s regular meeting on Monday. First, councillors defeated a motion that would require city manager Patrick Draper to hire an independent auditor to review Mayor Nolan Crouse’s expense records with the city and the Capital Region Board. With only Coun. Sheena Hughes, who brought forward the motion, Coun. Cam MacKay — who was acting as deputy mayor after Crouse recused himself from the debate — and Coun. Tim Osborne supporting the motion, it was defeated on a tie vote as the rest of city council cited the high cost of the audit and the ability of City staff to perform the audit as main reasons for voting against it. “We’re going to spend tens of thousands of dollars to recover far less than $10,000,� said Coun. Cathy Heron. Heron then brought forward a motion that would see the six current city councillors’ expenses from the past 12 months scrutinized by an audit in addition to the mayor’s expenses from the past 36 months. That motion passed unanimously. The audit will be followed by a consultation with the RCMP to see if an investigation is needed and appropriate amendments to the expense reporting procedures by City of St. Albert staff.
“None of us are above fault,� said Heron during the motion’s debate. “Let’s put this to bed, move on, and remove any doubt.� Heron’s motion was brought forward after Mayor Crouse, in addition to a personal audit of his own expenses, reviewed the expense claims from the rest of council and found more than $2,000 worth of discrepancies. “I will not make public any of this information,� said Mayor Crouse before discussions began. “I leave each of you to do what you will with the sealed envelopes I have provided to each of you.� Additional motions to have Draper retain independent auditors for Heron’s motion were defeated by majority. Councillors Hughes, MacKay and Wes Brodhead believed that having City staff Cathy Heron perform the audits City councillor would look less than favourable on council. “There’s still going to be doubts,� said Hughes during debate. “Getting the trust of the public is what’s priceless.� Despite the objections from Hughes, MacKay and Brodhead, Coun. Gilles Prefontaine spoke up the loudest for City staff’s ability to perform a thorough audit, their nature as working independent from city council, and for the opportunities arising from this controversy. “City staff’s boss is the city manager, not the council,� Prefontaine said. “There’s an opportunity to learn from this and establish better procedures to ensure that this never happens again.�
“None of us are above fault. Let’s put this to bed, move on, and remove any doubt.�
BACKGROUND
Special to the Leader
Council voted to receive as information a report that outlines the structural concerns for Juneau House and outlines budgetary implications for temporary arrangements for the Michif Cultural Resources Institute for while repairs to the Juneau House are underway.
Council voted on a motion to amend the Snow and Ice Control Policy, which would see the Policy update its service standards to be in line with the Public Works Long Term Plan.
CROUSE . . . . . . . . . . BRODHEAD . . . . . . . HERON. . . . . . . . . . . HUGHES . . . . . . . . . OSBORNE . . . . . . . . PREFONTAINE . . . . MacKAY . . . . . . . . . .
CROUSE . . . . . . . . . . BRODHEAD . . . . . . . HERON. . . . . . . . . . . HUGHES . . . . . . . . . OSBORNE . . . . . . . . PREFONTAINE . . . . MacKAY . . . . . . . . . .
“The Michif Cultural Resource is in a growing phase and is developing its board. It houses signiďŹ cant artifacts and is currently developing a more extensive business plan... It’s a valuable portion of the community and it represents a signiďŹ cant history in St. Albert.â€?
“In a nutshell, this is a housekeeping item to update the policies to match the current practices... The additional resources we needed have been approved and we can now meet the service levels approved by council.�
— Anthony Lake, director of public works
— Kelly Jerrott, director of cultural services
WHAT’S NEXT
CHRISTOPHER SCHIEMAN
Snow and Ice Policy
A business case that will outline the exact details for the Michif Cultural Resources Institute’s temporary arrangements needs to be submitted to Council as part of the 2015 Budget discussions.
FEEDBACK
Councillors’ expenses under the microscope
ISSUES
Michif Cultural Resources Institute/ Juneau House
NOTABLE QUOTES THE VOTE
• OCTOBER 27, 2014 •
“It’s important that we do what we can to support the Mitchif Cultural Resources Institute... It needs to be done jointly and we need to help them ďŹ nd sustainability in their organization so they can be more independent.â€? — Coun. Tim Osborne
With amendments to the Snow and Ice Control Policy being approved, services to St. Albert will see an increase in snow removal services including Priority 2 Roadways and Arterials being cleared 8 hours after snowfall and Priority 3 Roadways being cleared within 16 hours of snowfall. “I do recognize that we hear about this from residents often. They can move in our community, their cars don’t get stuck in windrows, and we offer another level of this service to our community... This is something we’re proud of and is a differentiator and is why so many people come to this community.�
— Coun. Gilles Prefontaine
NE X T MEE TING: NOVEMBER 3, 2014 at 3 p.m . FULL AGENDA AVAILABLE AT WWW.STALBERT.CA BY 5 P.M. ON FRIDAY PRIOR TO THE MEETING