City council divided on issue of access to administration

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This article was published 24/05/2017 (3026 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Attempts by some councillors to improve access to senior administrators failed at Wednesday’s council meeting.

The dissident group on council met a strong opposition led by Mayor Brian Bowman and members of his executive policy committee and others, who dismissed the attempt as unnecessary and the work of elected officials unable to get along with others.

“Madame Speaker, we have councillors clearly stating the CAO (Doug McNeil) is denying access to meetings with directors,” said Coun. Janice Lukes, who brought a motion to the meeting calling on council to direct the CAO to ensure senior administrators make time to meet with councillors who have questions about reports going to committee meetings.

“I’m standing on the floor of council bringing forward a motion, literally begging to have meetings with directors, to have access to information if I have questions on complex reports so that I and other councillors can make well-informed decisions on behalf of the citizens of our ward and for our city,” Lukes (South Winnipeg-St. Norbert) said.

Lukes had brought the motion after being told by McNeil he would not allow councillors to meet with directors during the 96-hour period when an administrative report is published ahead of a committee meeting.

She was able to attract the support of five other councillors — Jeff Browaty, Shawn Dobson, Ross Eadie, Jason Schreyer and Russ Wyatt — who said they’ve also been denied access to vital information because they are not members of Bowman’s executive policy committee. The motion was defeated in a 6-10 vote.

Bowman denied McNeil was blocking councillors’ access to directors and championed openness and transparency as hallmarks of his time as mayor.

“My understanding from conversations I had with our CAO… is all members of council should be free to contact Mr. McNeil, or any of our directors, at any time to seek clarity or additional information,” Bowman said.

Bowman’s position has been repeatedly contradicted in email exchanges McNeil has had with Lukes and Dobson, where McNeil stated he had ordered directors not to meet with councillors and in some instances to withhold information from them.

Coun. Jenny Gerbasi, the longest serving member of council, first elected in 1998, disputed the allegations raised by Lukes and the others, saying that as a non-EPC member she’s had a positive experience dealing with the administration.

However, Gerbasi has been described by the dissident councillors, along with Coun. Matt Allard, as part of the “plus-two” in what’s become known as “EPC plus two.” Both Gerbasi and Allard were invited by Bowman to join the EPC budget preparation team. In November, Bowman appointed Gerbasi as deputy mayor and Allard as acting deputy mayor.

Gerbasi (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) said those councillors who feel left out haven’t been trying hard enough to get along.

“There is a real opportunity for each and every one of you, and the onus is on each and every one of us to work collaboratively together,” Gerbasi said. “You can do that. You can get the information you need from the administration without hijacking or tying them down to a 96-hour meeting in your office.”

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca