Councillors worked well into the late evening Monday to discuss, review and vote on 53 remaining recommendations made in a municipal inspection report earlier this year.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Councillors worked into the late evening Monday to formally consider and vote on 53 remaining recommendations from a municipal inspection report covering topics like strategic planning, council onboarding, training and improved communication between city staff and council.
Members were directed by a ministerial order to discuss and review in open session a total of 68 recommendations, and explain how action has, or why it will not be taken for any individual recommendation. The deadline was today.
The other 15 recommendations were covered by council Sept. 15 when the extra meeting was called for Sept. 29 to complete the list.
For approximately two-hours Monday councillors reviewed and voted on the list of recommendations, several without debate, however some were discussed in more detail.
Within the 207-page municipal inspection report, five core issues were identified which highlight patterns of dysfunction, strained relationships, procedural breakdowns and leadership issues.
To improve communication, the following recommendations were considered:
– One-on-one meetings between the mayor and councillors to occur at least quarterly, and include a standing agenda and way of tracking professions on members goals and priorities, and that an executive assistant to the mayor and council be present to assist.
– Reflecting on the will of council and role of the mayor, council input and reporting for mayor and city manager meetings will not be highlighted during a new council orientation process within a set time limit.
The goal is that moving forward the city manager will better understand the need for clear direction from council, and the importance to staffers of clear direction provided to the city manager will be highlighted during governance workshops.
– Moving forward, council will also regularly review the content of its Procedure Bylaw, which will be highlighted during council orientation, so that everyone participating in meetings understands the proper procedure expected.
Updates to meeting procedures, improving public access to meeting packages and providing transparent information on who voted on issues was also discussed and will be improved upon as per recommendations.
– Councillors also reviewed the delegated authority within the city which included reviewing the number of managing directors and council committees.
– One of the more detailed recommendations came under the cultural improvement section as the city and council will continue with implementation to change work culture. The city is referencing the “2025 Barrett Values Culture Assessment Results and Recommendations” to improve staff culture.
With the termination of city manager Ana Mitchell announced, councillors also reviewed recommendations on that position.
Within the recommendations, councillors will not be presented with a draft of the city manager’s evaluation policy and an update to the job description to reflect the current reality of the role.
– Changes will also be made to the City Manager Bylaw to align better with standard CAO bylaws that focus entirely on the role of the position.
– Changes recommended to contingency fund reporting, expense approvals and personal and travel expenses will not be implemented, however timely expense approvals can now be authorized under the personal and travel expense policy.
Previous recommendations covered during the Sept. 15 public meeting surrounded council orientation, expense and governance processes.
A recommendation from the province seeking to change the number of active sitting councillors to seven from nine, required council to go into a brief closed meeting for discussion before being voted on in public.
Council came to the conclusion this issue will be debated in front of a new council in the second quarter of 2026.
Another recommendation discussed proposed governance refresher programs be added during council terms. Both of these motions were adopted unanimously.
Due to one recommendation, a spreadsheet of all 68 recommendations, as well council’s motion for adoption, will be posted on the city’s website for transparency.
