Latest news with #LinnsieClark
Global News
7 days ago
- Politics
- Global News
Report on Medicine Hat city council finds dysfunction, rancour, culture of fear
A new report commissioned by the Alberta government says the City of Medicine Hat has been hobbled for years by a hostile dysfunctional city hall and something must be done. 'The governance function of the city is ineffective and is characterized by rancour, suspicion and accusations,' stated the report, authored by Ian McCormack and released by the Alberta government on Monday. McCormack said the southern Alberta city of just under 65,500 people has been managed in an 'irregular, improper and improvident manner' but said residents are still 'by and large' getting the services they need. McCormack issued close to 70 recommendations to put council back on course. The report came at the request of councillors in the city and was presented to them by McCormack at a meeting Monday. Story continues below advertisement The report says council and city staff have been operating under an 'increasingly turbulent and suspicion-filled' work environment since tensions boiled over in a public debate between the mayor and city manager two years ago. He said that tensions among the city manager, the mayor and some members of council have created an 'untenable working environment.' The report is more than 200 pages based on interviews with about two dozen councillors and staff, along with document gathering and research. It documents allegations of information leaks, complaints of councillors overstepping their roles, disagreements over whether or not they should dine together at public events, and in some cases, a 'culture of fear' at city hall. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The inspection recommends updating procedures, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and boosting governance training for councillors. It cautions that the 'adversarial' relationship among councillors and between council and staff could have a long-term effect on the city. That may make problems recruiting and retaining good staff even worse, it says. View image in full screen Medicine Hat Mayor Linnsie Clark shakes hands with supporters following an announcement saying she will be pursuing legal action following council voting to strip her of her powers of mayor. It also singles out Mayor Linnsie Clark with several of its recommendations, calling on her to refrain from 'debate that calls the professionalism of city staff into question,' and urges that she 'avail herself of training' to learn how to show up for meetings on time. Story continues below advertisement Last year, code of conduct allegations led to Clark being stripped of certain duties and part of her salary. Later, a court decision restored her pay and most of the powers she had lost. In the meeting Monday discussing the report, several councillors welcomed it as thorough and constructive. However, Clark pushed back, saying the report relied on cherry-picked information and too many anonymous testimonials. That, she said, didn't give her an appropriate opportunity to respond to defamatory innuendo. 'I feel a lack of procedural fairness,' said Clark. 'I will have further written comments, but overall, I'm not super stoked about the content.' 1:31 Medicine Hat mayor pursues legal action following council's decision to strip her powers McCormack told council he didn't see the benefit in attributing every individual comment. 'We were looking for something that was thematic,' he said. Story continues below advertisement Municipalities across the province are set to hold elections on Oct. 20, and none of the current members of Medicine Hat's council are registered to run as candidates, according to the city's website as of Tuesday. Alberta's Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams has ordered Medicine Hat city council to report back to him by Oct. 1 on how it plans to respond to the recommendations. In a ministerial order, Williams also directed council and staff at the city to undergo a respectful workplace training program approved by him. In a statement, Williams said the directions 'will lead to improved collaboration at the municipal level and a stronger future for everyone in Medicine Hat.'
CTV News
7 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
70 recommendations made in Medicine Hat inspection
A municipal inspection of Medicine Hat has been completed, resulting in dozens of recommendations. The city asked for the inspection in September 2024 after months of disagreements between the mayor, council and chief administrator. It was then ordered by the minister of Alberta Municipal Affairs. The final 207-page report was presented during a council meeting on Monday. 'The bottom line seems to be that the decision was that they contravene the Municipal Governance Act, and as a result, they have to have some consequences for that,' said Jim Groom, a political scientist based in Medicine Hat. Along with 70 recommendations, the report also included three directives from the minister of municipal affairs that must be followed. These include council and the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) reviewing the recommendations and reporting to the minister, as well as making the report publicly available. Council, the CAO and other designated officers must also complete respectful workplace training. 'There's less than 100 days left in this council, and I would not expect this to make any drastic changes in any way, shape or form, and it was evident by the council meeting last night that there's still a lot of animosity, still a lot of personality clashes,' said Groom. The report says council has been operating in a somewhat hostile environment since early on in its terms. That was highlighted by an exchange between Mayor Linnsie Clark and the city manager Ann Mitchell that led to council moving to sanction the mayor and cut her pay in half. A Calgary judge later reversed that decision. Council and others in city hall are working to repair those relationships. 'There's still some ambiguity about how do we get to the to the right area of correcting this? Whose fault it is isn't the right thing, but what was the precipice? How do we get past that? What's the crux?' said Medicine Hat city councillor Shila Sharps. The report says the residents of Medicine Hat did not lose out on programs or services because of council infighting, but it also called governance function of the city ineffective and noted that distrust made it difficult to make effective decisions. A new council will be elected this fall, and the hope is to start the new term on the right foot. 'We are making sure that we have a very robust orientation for the new council coming in in October,' said Mitchell. 'I've been a city manager for 20 years, so I've gone through a few orientations and so has our clerk, so knowing best practices is really important.' CTV news reached out to Clark and will update this article if and when a response is received. The full report can be read on the City of Medicine Hat's website.
