ROTHENBURGER – A Mayor-Council-CAO Covenant could be what doctor ordered

THERE’S SOMETHING called a “Council-CAO Covenant” that might help Kamloops City Hall through its dysfunctional quagmire.

It’s being tried in several other B.C. communities, including Harrison Hot Springs, the only municipality in the province that might be more dysfunctional than Kamloops. (The Harrison mayor opened a recent council meeting by declaring a “coup” was being attempted by a couple of councillors, and then refused to call the meeting to order.)

Other councils working with such a document include Cranbrook, Smithers, Valemount and the District of Lake Country.

I was thinking along similar lines in the wake of the Braun Report, which even its author Henry Braun admitted provides little hope for changing the situation here. A Council-CAO Covenant, on the other hand, could set out a prescriptive road map for how our local municipal government could move forward.

The Harrison Covenant (over which the council there is still struggling to agree on) was part of the recommendations of a provincially appointed advisor last year and it’s surprising that Braun didn’t lay out anything similar in his Kamloops report.

The word “covenant” itself has a nice ring to it. It would be like a contract among the three parties — mayor, council and staff. The ones in the other communities are well-intentioned but a little too general. Ours would have to be more specific.

In Harrison, for example, there’s the usual benign stuff about pledging to “make decisions which we believe to be in the best interests of the majority of citizens without our jurisdiction” and so on but some of it is quite useful.

One clause pledges council to “refrain from any public or private criticism of our administration wherein individual employees or positions are identified.” Another says council will “seek to participate actively in the decision-making process as it occurs at the Council table and to make decisions at the table, not away from the table.”

So why can’t Kamloops tailor something to its own needs with a tri-partite Major-Council-CAO Covenant? Maybe something like this:

I, THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF KAMLOOPS, WILL:

• foster a co-operative, respectful relationship with all members of Council and administration, and will speak in a respectful manner to them and about them at all times.
• listen attentively to all ideas and advice from councillors and administration, and carefully consider them.
• answer questions from the media directly, succinctly and calmly.
• withdraw my lawsuit against Coun. Katie Neustaeter.
• refrain from public references to grievances I may have arising from past actions or words of councillors and staff.
• refrain from any public remarks that are uncomplimentary to councillors or administration.
• make certain I do not unnecessarily intrude on the work space of City staff.
• emphasize a consultative “no surprises” approach when considering structural changes that are within the jurisdiction of the mayor.

WE, THE EIGHT COUNCILLORS OF THE CITY OF KAMLOOPS, WILL:

• speak in a respectful manner to the mayor in all discussions including during meetings of council, addressing him as Your Worship and avoiding remarks that may sound critical of him personally.
• consider any motions of the mayor, encourage discussion of proposals made within such motions, and seek ways to understand and fully discuss them.
• develop, in co-operation with the mayor, definitions of “unparliamentary language” in the context of council debates, and procedures for managing such language.
• conscientiously include the mayor in council publicity opportunities.
• re-examine the duties and responsibilities of the deputy mayor to be certain they do not infringe on the natural duties and responsibilities of the mayor as the City’s CEO and prime spokesperson on City matters.
• refrain from making public statements critical of the mayor, other councillors or staff.
• withdraw all claims for costs filed by Coun. Neustaeter in her defence against the lawsuit filed by Mayor Hamer-Jackson.
• refrain from infringing on the work spaces of City staff.
• withdraw all restrictions upon the mayor in his communication with councillors and administration, and in agreement with the mayor and administration establish guidelines for the respectful conduct of communication.
• steadfastly honour the confidentiality of reports and documents, including results of such reports and documents that may reflect upon the integrity of the mayor.
• withdraw our motion asking the mayor to resign.

I, THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER OF THE CITY OF KAMLOOPS, WILL:

• speak in a respectful manner to the mayor in all discussions including during meetings of council, addressing him as Your Worship and avoiding remarks that may sound critical of him personally, and ensure that all members of my staff do the same.
• concur with the removal of restrictions upon the mayor in his communication with councillors and administration.
• promote an open access “no locked doors” policy for the mayor and councillors to all areas of City Hall and other City facilities, based on a protocol to be developed on guidelines to be followed during access.
• meet with the mayor on an informal basis at least once per week to discuss matters of interest that will benefit the citizens of Kamloops.
• undertake a thorough investigation to identify those responsible for leaking confidential emails and reports to the media, and recommend appropriate measures under the Code of Conduct.

Most of those things weren’t included in the Braun recommendations, and neither did his report propose a path toward agreement.

A Covenant such as the one above could be signed by all the parties in public, a gesture that would represent their solemn pledge to “start fresh.”

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.