TAMRMS#: B06
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Renewal of Integrity Commissioner Appointment
Presented by: David Leflar, Director Legal & Legislative Services
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RECOMMENDATION(S)
recommendation
1. That the appointment of Shari-Anne Doolaege as Integrity Commissioner be extended for one year, to expire on November 6, 2020.
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PURPOSE OF REPORT
The purpose of this report is to recommend to Council that the appointment of Shari-Anne Doolaege as St. Albert’s Integrity Commissioner be extended for one year following expiry of her initial one year term appointment on November 6, 2019.
ALIGNMENT TO PRIORITIES IN COUNCIL’S STRATEGIC PLAN
N /A
ALIGNMENT TO LEVELS OF SERVICE DELIVERY
N/A
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL DIRECTION OR MANDATORY STATUTORY PROVISION
Section 3 of the Integrity Commissioner Bylaw provides that Council will appoint an Integrity Commissioner “for a one-year term, with the possibility of one-year term extensions.”
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Following a public recruitment process and interviews of short-listed applicants, Shari-Anne Doolaege was appointed as Integrity Commissioner by resolution of Council on November 6, 2018. That appointment is about to expire. The Integrity Commissioner has not been called upon to conduct any investigations during the first year of her service, since there have been no complaints received alleging a breach by any Council member of the Code of Conduct. Ms. Doolaege was selected for this role because of her experience in conducting municipal inspections and investigations, and Administration remains as confident as it was a year ago that she would handle any complaint received in an efficient and professional manner. It is therefore recommended that Council extend her appointment for another year, as contemplated in the Integrity Commissioner Bylaw.
The cost of maintaining an Integrity Commissioner on retainer to deal with any complaints received, to make recommendations for amendments to relevant bylaws and policies, and to provide an Annual Report on Integrity Commissioner activities, is $2000/month. If a complaint should be received, the fee for conducting an investigation and making recommendations arising from the investigation would be $200/hour. This is consistent with the method and amount of remuneration paid by other municipalities that have established an Integrity Commissioner function.
ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED
If Council does not wish to support the recommendation, the alternative would be to conduct another open recruitment process for an Integrity Commissioner. At some point it would be appropriate to do that, but in Administration’s opinion it is not necessary to incur the cost and administrative time to carry out another recruitment only one year after initial appointment of the incumbent.
Report Date: November 4, 2019
Author(s): David Leflar
Committee/Department: Legal & Legislative Services
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer: Kerry Hilts
Chief Administrative Officer: Kevin Scoble