Audit into police HQ project nixed

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This article was published 21/11/2013 (4369 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There will be no independent investigation into how the police headquarters budget went $76 million over budget.

A move on the floor of council Wednesday to have an independent audit of the project ran into stiff opposition from Mayor Sam Katz and members of his executive policy committee.

Councillors Paula Havixbeck and Jenny Gerbasi proposed the audit, arguing too many questions remain unanswered surrounding a project that now has a price tag of $211 million.

But Katz and his six-member EPC — councillors Russ Wyatt, Justin Swandel, Jeff Browaty, Grant Nordman, Mike Pagtakhan and Brian Mayes — killed the move, with help from speaker Devi Sharma and deputy speaker Thomas Steen.

“I would have thought that given the gravity of the situation, given the information we’ve had, an audit would be the obvious thing to do,” Gerbasi (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) said following the vote. “I’m very disheartened that the mayor’s EPC pulled together and they had the votes to stop an audit from going forward.”

Havixbeck and Gerbasi said council remains in the dark about who made key decisions, why, when and who else was aware of the situation.

“Council must learn from its mistakes and steps must be taken to ensure such mistakes are not repeated,” Gerbasi said. The audit “would identify more clearly who can be held accountable and how we got to this point.”

Katz said those calling for an audit only had to read the latest administrative report, which itemized the cost overruns. He added cost overruns are common on major projects and are no reason for an investigative audit.

Wyatt seemed content to blame the mess from the headquarters project on former CAO Phil Sheegl. While not naming Sheegl, Wyatt said the individual behind the mess was the same one responsible for the fire-paramedic station controversy.

The audit in that case concluded Sheegl was responsible for much of the oversight.

While Wyatt acknowledged the management of the police project was the result of incompetence at the highest level, he said since the same person had already been dealt with — members of EPC forced Sheegl to quit days before the magnitude of the overruns on the police project were made public — there would be no point in holding an audit.

Wyatt said questions councillors have on the project can be answered during a special meeting Friday of the downtown management committee, where an administrative request will be made for additional borrowing authority to cover the funding gap.

The rationalizations offered by Wyatt and Katz weren’t considered valid reasons for several councillors.

Coun. John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) said important information is routinely withheld from councillors who are not members of EPC, adding he’s not certain all the information has been released.

“My instincts say we don’t know everything,” Orlikow said. “Maybe EPC does but not (all councillors). Not the public.”

Dan Vandal (St. Boniface) said public confidence in city hall’s ability to manage projects has been seriously damaged by such large cost overruns.

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Vandal said. “We have to do this to restore the public faith in the important work we’re doing as city leaders.”

Scott Fielding, who quit EPC at the end of October citing project mismanagement and a looming property tax increase, described the police project as “a mess… a convoluted web,” adding an audit is needed to “get to the bottom.”

Havixbeck (Charleswood-Tuxedo) said she doesn’t believe the administration will explain what happened, adding they’ve refused to provide her with answers to the questions she’s been asking.

Havixbeck said she’s considering bringing the motion for an audit back to council next month, adding she doubts any useful information will be revealed at Friday’s meeting.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

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