HomeMy WebLinkAboutFCS-16-092 - Appointment of Integrity Commissioner
REPORT TO: Finance and Corporate Services Committee
DATE OF MEETING: June 13, 2016
SUBMITTED BY: Christine Tarling, Director of Legislated Services & City Clerk,
519-741-2200, ext. 7809
PREPARED BY: Christine Tarling, Director of Legislated Services & City Clerk,
519-741-2200, ext. 7809
WARD(S) INVOLVED: All
DATE OF REPORT: June 2, 2016
REPORT NO.: FCS-16-092
SUBJECT: Appointment of Integrity Commissioner
___________________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
That request for proposal P16-053 Integrity Commissioner Services
(Cooperative), be awarded to ADR Chambers, Toronto, Ontario, at their quoted
hourly rate to provide the Core Services as outlined in Finance and Corporate
Services report FCS-16-092 for a contract term of three (3) years with the option
to renew for two (2) additional years with the same terms and pricing; and further,
That ADR Chambers, Toronto, Ontario, also provides the following Optional
Services as outlined in Finance and Corporate Services report FCS-16-092 at their
quoted hourly rates for a contract term of three (3) years with the option to renew
for two (2) additional years with the same terms and pricing:
1.2. ____________________________;
3. ______________________________;4. ____________________________.
BACKGROUND:
Subsection 223.2 of the Municipal Act authorizes a municipality to establish a Code of
Conduct (the Code) for members of council and local boards of the municipality.
Subsection 223.3 authorizes the appointment of an Integrity Commissioner (IC) who
reports to council and is responsible for performing in an independent manner the
functions assigned with respect to the application of the Code and investigations into an
alleged breach of the Code.
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In 2008, Kitchener City Council adopted a Code for members of council and local
boards and, in accordance with the Code, Council appointed an IC, Mr. Greg Levine, in
June 2009 to provide complaint investigation and resolution services with respect to the
application of the Code. In 2015, Mr. Levine announced his intention to retire in 2016
so on June 15, 2015, Council approved the extension of Mr. LevineJune of
2016 and directed staff to report back to Council regarding how extended IC services to
members of Council, including formal advice, consultation, and education and training,
could be accessed with potential guidelines and amendments to the Code.
The purpose of this report is to C along with
selecting any additional services Council would like to have the IC provide.
REPORT:
In the past, Council members have expressed an interest in potentially expanding the
scope of the ICservices to include formal advice, consultation, and education and
training. Adding education and training services to the IC contract would not require
any changes in the Code relating to the mandate of the IC; however, adding the
services of formal advice and consultation would require amendments to the Code.
Depending on the services selected by Council, staff would need to bring back a report
on how these services would be accessed along with potential guidelines and
amendments to the Code.
With that in mind, a joint Request for Proposal (RFP) for the services of an IC was
issued by the Cities of Kitchener and Waterloo on behalf of the Cooperative Purchasing
Group of Waterloo Region (the participating members) on May 10, 2016 andclosed on
May 24, 2016. The RFP was flexibly structured to allow the participating members to
join the agreement with the IC at a later date if desired, and to choose the service level
needed.Subsequent to the issuance of the RFP, the City of Cambridge elected to join.
Services
Core Services
The RFP included two (2) sets of services:,which are required with
respect to conducting Code of Conduct complaint investigation and adjudication;and
Optional Services
, which permits each participating member to individually choose
according to their needs without requiring all members to contract the same services.
Core Services
1. included:
Assessing and investigating complaints about a Council/Committee/Local Board
Member from another Member, the public or staff.
Conducting investigations regarding alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct.
Determining whether a Member of Council/Committee/Local Board has, in the
Making recommendations on the appropriate penalties, if applicable.
Providing an annual report to Council with a summary of all investigations
conducted, the number of inquiries made and recommendations regarding the
Code of Conduct, policies or procedures that relate to the ethical behaviour of
Members and best practices with respect to accountability and transparency
measures.
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Optional Services
included:
Optional Service #1 Formal Advice
Providing formal written advice upon which a Member of
Council/Committee/Local Board could rely respecting the Code of Conduct
governing the ethical behaviour of Members as well as specific situations as they
relate to the application of the Code. 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.
Providing formal written advice upon which a Member of
Council/Committee/Local Board could rely respecting other policies and
procedures that relate to the ethical behaviour of Members as requested.
Reviewing each formal recommendations for
revisions and enhancements at a minimum of once per year as needed.
Optional Service #2 Consultation
Providing informal oral advice to a Member of Council/Committee/Local Board
that would not be relied upon by the Member in the event of a complaint
respecting the Code of Conduct.
Providing informal oral advice to a Member of Council/Committee/Local Board
that would not be relied upon by the Member regarding other policies and
procedures that relate to the ethical behaviour of members as requested.
Optional Service #3 Education, Training and Information
Providing formal training to Council/Committee/Local Board Members as to their
obligations under the Code of Conduct as requested.
Providing additional information to Council/Committee/Local Board Members as
to their obligations under the Code of Conduct as requested.
Providing information to the public regarding the Code of Conduct and the
obligations of Council/Committee/Local Board Members under the Code.
Optional Service #4 Conflict of Interest
Providing general advice on conflict of interest issues relating to the Municipal
Conflict of Interest Act.
NOTE: Councillors are personally liable for their own individual compliance
with the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and may be removed from office if
they are found by a court to be in breach of their obligations under the Act.
The City should never be placed in a position where it takes on the personal
liability of Councillors through the provision of advice with respect to
pecuniary interests. The advice provided by the Integrity Commissioner
would therefore be informal and subject to disclaimers and indemnifications
to protect the City from potential liability. The advice may not be used in
defense of allegations related to a conflict of interest. As a result, Councillors
should obtain independent legal advice with respect to pecuniary interests if
they intend to rely on the advice in a court of law.
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An alternative to this optional service would be to enable Councillors to obtain
their own independent legal advice with respect to pecuniary interests, subject
to certain limits, as has been implemented at the Region of Waterloo. Staff
could report back on this option as a part of the implementation report should
it be the scenario preferred by Council.
In scoping out the Optional Services, it was recognized there could be potential for a
real or perceived conflict on the part of the IC in providing advice or consultation and
then subsequently investigating an alleged breach relating to the issue for which advice
was provided. With that in mind, each bidder was required to provide an explanation as
to how s/he would deal with such a circumstance.
Included with the RFP was the Code of each of the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo to
enable the bidders to have an understanding of the requirements of each city.
The RFP acknowledged the volume of work is unpredictable andstatedthe services of
the IC will be required only on a part-time, flexible and as-needed basis. As well, the
RFP indicated the IC will be expected to work independently from the administrative staff
of any participating member, andwill report directly to each participating member
Council as necessary. The RFP also expressed the bulk of the work will be carried out
at the workplace of the IC and not on the property of any participating member; however,
space at a facility to undertake interviews will be made available, as required.
The RFP also made it clear the IC is not an employee of any participating member and
as such, is solely responsible for any and all payments and/or deductions required,
including those required for Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance, Workplace
Safety and Insurance Board, and Income Tax.
Qualifications
After reviewing the RFPs for IC services from the cities of Barrie, Brantford, Guelph,
London, Markham, and the Region of Niagara, qualifications for the IC were established
relating to a number of areas including: relevant education;experience as an Integrity
Commissioner and/or legal or quasi-judicial experience; knowledge of investigatory
procedures; knowledge of alternative dispute resolution methods; experience managing
sensitive inquiries; and knowledge of the relevant legislation.
In addition to the above, the bidders were required to provide asatisfactory criminal
record check upon request; warrant no involvement in political campaigning or
endorsements with any current member of Council/Committees/Local Boards within the
Region of Waterloo; have no financial interest in matters related to each participating
municipality; and, not have any current conflicts of interest.
Compensation
Proponents were required to state their hourly rate for the provision of both Core and
Optional Services to aid in Council-making. The hourly rate was to be the
maximum compensation per hour for each service and was not to be payable for travel
time. Disbursements, mileage, accommodation and meals were to be compensated as
set out in a Draft Agreement which was attached to the RFP. The rationale for this was
to ensure each participating member is not paying for services which are not being
used, and is paying for services at an appropriate rate for the service being provided.
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Bid Responses
Three (3) were from Robert J. Swayze of Caledon, ON (Swayze), Fasken Martineau of
Ottawa, ON (Fasken), and ADR Chambers of Toronto, ON (ADR).The bids were
evaluated by Michael Di Lullo, City Clerk, Cambridge; Olga Smith, Director of
Legislative Services & City Clerk, Waterloo; Steve Rudak, Buyer, Kitchener; and
Christine Tarling, Director of Legislated Services & City Clerk, Kitchener. All three
submissions were evaluated based on overall IC experience; investigation, mediation
and adjudication experience; knowledge of Ontario municipal legislation and codes of
conduct; general municipal knowledge, including two-tiered municipal governments;
communication experience including investigation reporting; service plan; and
compensation. As a result of the evaluation process, ADR was selected as the
preferred candidate to provide core IC services and optional services if selected by
Council.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
The recommendation of this report supports the achievement of
vision through the delivery of core service.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The Legislated Services budget contains a $2,000 annual provision for the Integrity
Commissionerwhich reflects the extremely low level of activity for the Integrity
Commissioner since 2009.The hourly rate quoted by ADR Chambers is $250, which
equates to only 8 hours of service. Depending on the extent of future code of conduct
investigations and optional services selected by Council, if any, this budget may require
an increase in the future to cover the cost of those services. Budget amounts from the
municipalities contacted range from $4,000 to $20,000 per yearto cover the range of
. Staff will be able to refinefuture costs as part of
the subsequent report which will establish specific parameters around the optional
services.In addition, staff will monitor usage in the first year of the new vendor
relationship and report back through the budget process as required.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM
advance of the council / committee meeting.
CONSULT Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo consulted with each other regarding
the components of the RFP including the qualifications required of the IC, as well as
other participating members of the Cooperative Purchasing Group of Waterloo Region.
PREVIOUS CONSIDERATION OF THIS MATTER:
FCS-15-078 Integrity Commissioner
ACKNOWLEDGED BY:
D. Chapman,Deputy CAO, Finance & Corporate Services
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Service and Cost Comparison for Municipalities
Whose RFPs Were Reviewed
MunicipalityService Provided by ICCostAnnual Budgeted
Amount
BarrieInvestigations and reporting$150/hr + expenses$4,000+ $5,000 in
Advice$150/hr + expensesan election year
Consultation$150/hr + expenses mostly used for
Education/training$150/hr + expenseseducationand
training
BrantfordInvestigations and reportingNot provided$5,000
Education/trainingPaid per diem
GuelphInvestigations and reporting$300/hr$12,000
Advice$300/hr
Education and training$300/hr
MarkhamInvestigations and reporting$300/hour$20,000includes
Advice$300/hourretainer
Education/training$1,500(1 session)
No responses from Region of Niagara or London
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