Council Behaviour in an Election Year

I receive many emails covering a wide range of topics providing advice and opportunities for me to be a better Mayor. Depending on my availability and the topic I attend these webinars.  Recently I received this email from a group who provides free webinars to municipal officials. This group, InfraCycle, has been helpful. Below is the email and I hope I remember it prior to the next election. The gentleman behind the group is Ray Essiambre, President of InfraCycle Fiscal Solutions.

This year there will be municipal elections in British Columbia, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Ontario, some parts of Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island. This is the time for citizens to exercise their democratic right to choose civic leaders for the next 3 or 4 year term. During my webinar held on December 5, 2013 - The Buck Stops with Council, I reviewed the role of municipal council as described in The Municipal Government Act. The last year of councils' term is a unique phenomenon in our democratic process. Can you correctly answer the question in the following quiz?

1.       In an election year municipal council is expected to do the following? 

•                     i.            Do not make any major decisions that will impact or commit the next council.
•                    ii.            Keep tax increases at or lower than inflation.
•                  iii.            Make sure that election promises made by a Councillor to his/her constituents are implemented before the end of the electoral term.
•                  iv.            All of the above.
•                   v.            None of the above.

 All of the issues embodied in these questions were described to me by elected officials over the past year and here is my response.

1. Do not make any major decisions that will impact or commit the next council.

To paraphrase The Municipal Government Acts in most provinces, councillors and mayors are elected to make decisions that are in the best interest of the public at large. This responsibility is for the entire term of council without limitation. The position that a current council should not commit the next council is an abdication of responsibility to residents and the business community. Some councils have policies suspending major decisions for an entire year.  They defer tax increases, reduce reserve funds, and defer decisions on development applications. This delaying tactic serves no one.

Current councils have no obligation to consider the impact of their decision on the next council.

2. Keep tax increases at or lower than inflation.

This is a popular theme during an election year. The reality is that municipal costs increase every year and for many services they increase more than the rate of inflation. For example, the cost of operating buildings, maintaining infrastructure and other assets are influenced by the market place and not inflation. The municipality is competing for the same goods, products, services as the private sector. The cost is controlled by the forces of supply and demand. The price paid by the municipality for asphalt is based on what the market will bear and not by the local inflation rate.

For some products and service municipalities will pay more than the private sector because of the onerous, time-consuming public procurement process.

Taxes should be increased to keep pace with the actual cost to deliver the service.

3. Make sure that election promises made by a Councillor to his/her constituents are implemented before the end of the electoral term.

Councillor's are elected to serve the best interest of the public at large. This means voting on what is best for all residents and the business community even if it means voting against a promise made to constituents of their own electoral district. A Councillor will work hard to implement their platform but their responsibility does not end there. A common chorus I hear from Chief Administrative Officer's is, "boy, when a new Councillor attends the orientation session, they get a major wakeup call when they realize they are responsible for a multimillion dollar budget".