The results are out.
Municipal Affairs released Westlock County’s municipal inspection report last Wednesday and now the county faces a looming Nov. 28 deadline to address the report’s 27 recommendations.
So what happens in the meantime?
County chief administrative officer Leo Ludwig said the next steps would become clearer after the Sept. 12 council meeting. At that time council can begin discussing its response, action plan and which recommendations to tackle first.
“This is very new and there is a lot of material to cover in the report, including an extensive list of recommendations,” Ludwig said, noting that council may decide to seek outside guidance.
“The action of hiring a consultant will be part of the discussion on the review of the recommendations and what the response to each recommendation will eventually be.”
The province hired Strategic Steps Inc. to look into Westlock County’s governance, policies and conduct over the last several years following a request from council last summer.
“The ministry’s priority throughout this process is to help municipalities provide good governance, well-managed and accountable local governments to ensure the municipality provides the local leadership its citizens deserve,” Coral Murphy, the ministry’s municipal advisory services manager, said Aug. 30 at the report’s public presentation.
Murphy said the minister accepted the report, which found the county acted in an improper, improvident and irregular manner, and he may issue binding directives, or actions that must be taken.
“In this instance, prior to a decision on whether or not binding directives will be issued, the minster’s requesting council to provide him with your written comments on the inspection report, including your plans to address the issues identified in the report and strategies to implement any of the recommendations,” she told councillors last week.
That must be submitted and completed no later than Nov. 28.
Of course, right in the middle of it all is the Oct. 16 Municipal Election.
As of publication time, incumbent councillors in Div. 1,3 and 5 remain unchallenged while Div. 2 and 4 have candidates running for vacant seats. Div. 6 and 7 have challengers to the incumbents.
The election could have a significant impact on this process but to what extent may be decided by who returns to the table.
“That will depend on whether current council wishes to provide the response to the minister, or if they choose to withhold comment and let the new council determine the course of action in response to the recommendations,” Ludwig said.
Should current council choose to let the new council craft a response, Ludwig said they might ask the minister for an extension.
“The Nov. 28 deadline is very soon after the election and falls in an extremely busy time for council — orientation and training, organizational meeting, AAMDC conference, 2018 budget meetings, etc.,” he said.
Murphy strongly encouraged council to give close thought to each of the recommendations in the inspection when preparing their submissions.
“The minister will have a closer review of any issues that the inspectors have concluded were improper, irregular or improvident so those issues should be very closely reviewed when you consider your response,” she concluded.
