HomeMy WebLinkAboutFCS-15-078 - Integrity Commissioner Staff Report
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REPORT TO: Finance & Corporate Services Committee
DATE OF MEETING: June 15, 2015
SUBMITTED BY: C. Tarling, Director of Legislated Services/City Clerk, 519-741-
2200, ext. 7809
PREPARED BY: C. Tarling, Director of Legislated Services/City Clerk, 519-741-
2200, ext. 7809
WARD(S) INVOLVED: All
DATE OF REPORT: May 25, 2015
REPORT NO.: FCS-15-078
SUBJECT: Integrity Commissioner
RECOMMENDATION:
That the current contract for Mr. Greg Levine in the role of Integrity Commissioner be
renewed and extended to June 2016; and further,
That staff report back to Council before June 2016 regarding how extended Integrity
Commissioner services to Council(lors) including formal advice, consultation, and
education and training could be accessed with potential guidelines and amendments to
the Code of Conduct.
BACKGROUND:
Subsection 223.2 of the Municipal Act authorizes a municipality to establish a code of conduct
for members of council and local boards of the municipality. Subsection 223.3 authorizes the
appointment of an Integrity Commissioner who reports to council and is responsible for
performing in an independent manner the functions assigned with respect to the application of
the code of conduct and investigations into an alleged breach of the code.
In 2008, Kitchener City Council adopted a Code of Conduct (the Code) for members of council
and local boards and appointed an Integrity Commissioner, Mr. Greg Levine, in June 2009. Mr.
Levine continues to be the City's Integrity Commissioner to-date and his current contract expires
June 2015. The purpose of this report is to seek Council direction with respect to the renewal of
the contract.
REPORT:
Since his appointment in 2009, Mr. Levine has received an annual retainer of $2,000 but has
not received a bone fide request under the Code of Conduct for an investigation; therefore, he
has not charged the City for any additional fees.
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Mr. Levine's contract has been annually renewed since 2009 and is now coming due again. He
has indicated he is planning to retire in 2016 but is willing to continue as the City's Integrity
Commissioner for one more year under the same terms and conditions that have been in place
for the past 6 years.
In the past, Council members have expressed potential interest in expanding the scope of the
Integrity Commissioner's retainer to include formal advice, consultation, and education and
training services at fixed prices. Adding education and training services to the contract would
not require any changes in the Code of Conduct relating to the mandate of the Integrity
Commissioner; however, adding the services of formal advice and consultation for individual
members of council would require an amendment to the Code of Conduct. Staff would need to
bring back a report on how these services would be accessed along with potential guidelines,
amendments to the Code of Conduct, and associated budget impacts. The second
recommendation in this report would direct staff to report back with these details.
The following is a general definition of the potential additional services:
• "Formal advice" means formal written advice upon which a council member could rely.
This would include review of a formal request by a member, discussion of same with the
member, research regarding the issue(s), review of materials, and preparation of a
written opinion.
• "Consultations" mean when a member only wants to informally talk about the Code but
would not rely on the information in the event of a complaint.
Council Decision Points
Council is requested to consider the following questions with respect to the City's Integrity
Commissioner:
Q. 1 Does the City wish to continue the appointment of an Integrity Commissioner?
Q. 2 If yes to Q. 1, does Council accept Mr. Levine's proposal to renew the current contract
for one final year until June 2016 under the same terms and conditions? Should the
Integrity Commissioner role be continued past 2016 it would be the subject of a new
Expression of Interest.
Q. 3 Should staff report back within the next year on the potential to expand the scope of
Integrity Commissioner services to include formal advice, consultation and/or
education/training services?
If Council decides not to continue with the appointment of an Integrity Commissioner, there
would be an annual retainer savings of $2,000. Without an Integrity Commissioner, however, it
would become the responsibility of Council to self-regulate to ensure compliance with the Code
of Conduct.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
Ensures accountability and transparency in all public processes including Council's Code of
Conduct and Accountability & Transparency policy.
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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The annual retainer for the incumbent Integrity Commissioner is $2,000 and is provided for
within the budget. Costs associated with any potential Code of Conduct investigations would be
in addition to this retainer and are presently unbudgeted.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM — This report has been posted to the City's website with the agenda in advance of the
council / committee meeting.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY: D. Chapman, Deputy CAO, Finance & Corporate Services
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