WHAT ARE THE COUNCILLORS RESPONSIBILITIES

DUTIES OF A COUNCILLOR

Why is it important, as a Ratepayer, to fully understand the Duties of Councillors?

In order to fully understand what the "Duties Of The Councilors" are, one must refer to Alberta Municipal Government Act as the Act (MGA) which is the legislative framework in which all municipalities and municipal entities across the Province of Alberta operate.

As per the Alberta Municipal Government Act the "Duties Of Councillors" Sec 153 of the MGA states:

Councillors have the following duties:

(a) to consider the welfare and interests of the municipality as a whole and to bring to council’s attention anything that would promote the welfare or interests of the municipality.

This is important because according to the MGA, municipalities have 3 purposes. That’s it. Three. No more, no less. They’re pretty simple, too.

Municipalities exist to:

1. “provide good government”, 
2. “provide services, facilities, or other things”, and 
3. “develop and maintain safe and viable communities”.

You might ask yourself what the other 499 pages of the MGA are all about. Let’s just say that three seemingly simple purposes can lead to a lot of technical stuff. The same applies to the "Duties Of Councillors".

(b) to participate generally in developing and evaluating the policies and programs of the municipality.

This is important because Council must represent the wishes and requirements of the Ratepayers. Councils are elected to set Policy and Direction. No one member of Council has the authority to make decisions, nor act individually. All decisions that are required to be made by Council MUST be made by the Majority and must be done by Resolution or Bylaw. 

Bylaws and Resolutions can only be passed at a Regular Meeting of Council, or a Special Meeting of Council. This should ensure that the Policies and Programs of the Municipality are Implemented Fairly with the Best Interests of the Ratepayers in mind.

The "Evaluation" of the Policies and Programs really boils down to Performance Management.

Performance measures should be used to report on the outputs and outcomes of each program and should be related to the mission, goals, and objectives of the municipality.

Performance management and performance measures can help municipalities develop a continuous system of improvement. Consistent performance measures can help reveal when a program or service is not being delivered properly or effectively, which can result in insufficient services to the Ratepayers. It is important for LSAC to be receptive to introducing performance measures to become more focused on outputs and outcomes of a program. Furthermore, performance measurements can also result in positive behavioral change. LSAC should embrace the concept of continuous improvement and be willing to be measured (benchmarked) against outcomes. Establishing a receptive climate for performance measurement is as important as the measurements themselves.

Performance measurements can be integrated to the strategic planning process and budget, which can then help assess accomplishments on a County-wide basis. When used in the long-term planning and goal setting process and linked to LSAC's mission, goals, and objectives, meaningful performance measurements can help identify financial and program results. Performance measures can also help evaluate past resource decisions and facilitate qualitative improvements in future decisions regarding resource allocation and service delivery.

Performance measurements and performance results should be disclosed to the public. This can act as a helpful guide for Ratepayers to understand how LSAC measures performance, thus becoming more Transparent and Accountable.

(c) to participate in council meetings and council committee meetings and meetings of other bodies to which they are appointed by the council.

This is important because that is their Job and the reason they were Elected! 

(d) to obtain information about the operation or administration of the municipality from the chief administrative officer or a person designated by the chief administrative officer.

This is "EXTREMELY" important to understand because the Council members are responsible for ensuring that all municipal policies and procedures are fair and fairly applied by staff. Fairness starts at the top and the only employee of LSAC is Our County Manager (CAO) Mike Primeau.

So what does this mean? LSAC Administration as per the LSAC Web Site consists of over 43 Employee's. That is over 43 Employees under the direct supervision and control of the 1(ONE) and ONLY Employee of LSAC, our County Manager, who in turn is under the direct supervision and control of our Elected LSAC Councillors.

The questions that arise are who ensures that the Ratepayers are fairly represented and what procedures are in place to ensure Administration addresses the Ratepayers concerns?

We as the Ratepayers, have no say in who is doing a good job and who may not be doing a good job! In fact we the Ratepayers were declined by the County Manager to review the Performance Reviews of the Administrative Employees that Run our County. That also includes the Performance Review of our only Direct Employee Mike Primeau the County Manager. Not only were we denied to review his Performance Review we were also denied to review his Employment Contract in which our County Councillors just recently extended!

If our Councillors do not ask the right questions and rely solely on the recommendations of the County Manager then we do not have a democracy, we have a dictatorship funded by our tax dollars!

The responsibility folks lies wholly with our elected officials (Our Councillors) to ensure that LSAC Administration is in Fact doing a good Job of running our County.

It is OUR RESPONSIBILITY (the Ratepayers) to ensure our Elected Officials,( the Councilors) are doing their "Job" which is to "Represent the Public" and to consider the well-being and interests of the Municipality!

(e) to keep in confidence matters discussed in private at a council or council committee meeting until discussed at a meeting held in public.

This is important because when discussions and decision making are removed from the public arena, it tends to result in the promotion of private interests and the corruption of proper administration. This does not require any intent to do wrong. Often discussions are held in private because more detailed information can be exchanged and participants can be more candid. People have a natural reluctance to discuss their personal or commercial interests or to criticize others in public. However, private meetings can lead to confusion about the duties of the elected Councillors. The appearance that decisions are made ‘behind closed doors’ may also lead to a loss of confidence in council processes and decisions.

The Municipal Government Act requires council and special committees of council to conduct meetings in public, with only limited exceptions. These exceptions include decisions on legal and commercial-in-confidence matters, and personnel or other matters that would contravene privacy provisions if discussed in public.

Consistent with the legislative intention of the MGA, Councillors should, to the extent practicable, conduct council business in public.

(f) to perform any other duty or function imposed on Councillors by this or any other enactment or by the council.

This is important because it just is!

So in closing of this topic please keep this in mind when you attend the forms to choose your LSAC Councillor.

Every time a Municipal Council makes a decision, some person or group of people is affected by that decision. Someone may disagree with the decision, and complain about it.

Ratepayers have the right to expect that their Council and Administration will act in a Fair, Open and Transparent Manner.

Fairness that can be expected from your Councillor consist of :

• An EXPECTATION on the part of people affected by the Councillors decisions. Trust and respect got the Councillor Elected. Implicit in that trust is the Expectation that they will be fair in their deliberations and decisions. 
• An OBLIGATION created by law. What is needed to meet that obligation will depend on the circumstances, but the obligation to be fair relates to both a decision itself and the process by which it was made. 
• The STANDARD municipal decision makers set for themselves and their municipalities. 
• A GOOD BUSINESS PRACTICE that can help to maintain public confidence, to avoid or reduce conflict, and to protect Council when decisions are challenged. 

In addition to all of the above, it is also a SKILL that requires combining some procedural knowledge with COMMON SENSE. It is a skill that can be learnt, improved and perfected with regular practice, and can be passed onto others.

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