Printed here are the final questions the Fitzhugh posed to the 23 candidates running for mayor and council in the Oct. 21 municipal election. The answers are written in the candidates’ own words and have only been edited for length, grammar and punctuation.
To read the candidates’ responses to all of the Fitzhugh’s questions, visit fitzhugh.ca/election-talk.
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
Candidates for mayor:
Cloud Byrd
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
I would work with the town administrator to ensure hiring a qualified project manager to oversee all stages of construction and report back to council within a structured time frame. This should ensure there would be no surprises.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
I propose to have an open door policy at the mayor’s office and will install a question and comment box outside the office door. This way if I cannot address the question directly I can refer concerns and comments to the proper authority and hopefully return with timely, informative answers.
[accordion title="Karen Fontaine"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
Be as transparent as possible, in accordance with operational requirements, applicable laws, and the principles of natural justice. (As quoted in the Jasper Community Sustainability Plan.)
Monitor the developments for optimal fiscal responsibility.
Maintain integrity in the planning, development and budgeting sources of municipal revenues.
Account for contingencies or unplanned costs (percentage) as a relief mechanism.
Let Jasperites have a say in the budgeting process.
Structure a saving plan included in the budget to offset emergency spending.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
Include the Jasperites in the planning of the budget or at least the approval for spending and saving for the next four years. (Apparently in Latin America they have expressed an interest in doing just that, as I was informed today.) I would like to see the development of that strategy.
Also, besides posting the budget plans online (Jasper municipal website) maybe post them in the Fitzhugh newspaper, like the Hinton Parklander posts their Municipal Minutes in their newspaper regularly for the general public.
[accordion title="Richard Ireland (incumbent)"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
To best ensure necessary capital expenditures are kept “in check”, capital investments must continue to be planned, targeted and deliberate. Since municipal incorporation, capital spending has followed a publicly reviewed, 10-year capital plan focused on addressing the deficits identified in the pre-incorporation Reid Crowther Report. Investment began with our highest and most expensive priority—the Waste Water Treatment Plant—and has, in turn, addressed other infrastructure needs (firehall, streetworks, water wells, etc.).
Annual capital investment has demonstrated a general decline (as does projected municipal debt), subject to recent anomalies resulting from the unexpected influx of “stimulus” funds into our community; funds which council chose to invest while available, by advancing identified projects out of sequence where those projects (fitness centre, library/culture centre) met third party funding requirements.
Specific project expenses are kept in check first through the budgeting and contract processes and secondly through project oversight, recognizing that unexpected contingencies may arise despite best efforts and best planning, particularly with renovation projects.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
Transparency and accountability are best served through an informed and engaged public; a relationship through which residents and the municipality will all benefit and which the municipality continues to foster. The municipality must—as it does—provide access to information and opportunities for engagement, but equally, residents must avail themselves of that information and those opportunities.
Residents are encouraged to attend council meetings, to speak with councillors and to review recent documents of council—all available on the municipal website—which directly address issues of transparency and accountability, including the Procedural Bylaw (which contains, for the first time, a Code of Conduct for Councillors and provides clear direction for members of the public wishing to have items placed on council’s agenda); the Public Engagement Policy (which provides increased opportunities for engagement and thus accountability); and to review and engage in revised budgeting processes designed to increase transparency, accountability and engagement.
Candidates for councillor:
Vonna Arsenault
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
Managing finances for future capital projects will have to be carefully studied prior to commitment to try to make sure the municipality can afford to build and maintain them. I am aware of the setbacks plaguing our new library, and hope we can receive some of the money back due to oversights in building which were not the fault of our municipality.
We are a municipality which at its inception grew and blossomed beautifully, and now we are experiencing growing pains, and I don’t underestimate the thought and perseverance required to assume and maintain our financial equilibrium in the future.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
I think that it is important that the channels of communication are open and manageable between the mayor and council and townspeople. I understand the need for some filter, but would not like to see bureaucracy stand in the way of positive action or development.
[accordion title="David Baker"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
When a capital project is initiated, a contingency for cost overruns could be included in the agreement with the contracted companies. Details of the project costs and estimated date of completion could also be agreed upon, as well as consequences associated with failure to deliver detailed services.
In this way projects will be initiated with a predetermined course of action in the event of circumstances other than on time, on schedule completion of the project. Recent experiences have demonstrated how this type of legally binding contractual provision could have automatically directed the municipality and the contractors towards a pre-arranged solution.
Any project endeavour could include an agreement provision of a set price for the completed project. Simply stated, we as a town have a set amount of funds to complete a project. The companies contracted to complete these projects should be prepared to meet the details of the contract without expectation of compensation for delays, errors or oversights.
I say ‘could’ as I am not a councillor and am unsure to what extend these initiatives are already in place.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
There are two approaches to accountable, transparent government; proactive and reactive. Soliciting public input regarding an issue requiring solutions is inclusive and proactive.
Permitting the public to provide input related to a decision about to be made forces the community into a position of having to react to a decision.
Including the community in the finding of solutions means the people affected by the outcomes are granted the mechanism to determine how resolutions are arrived at rather than react to a solution into which they have been given no opportunity to shape.
Including the people in the process is democratic. Offering to consider the opinions of the community after a decision is on the brink of becoming law is patronizing at best.
Local government has the luxury of responding to the needs, wants and input of the community it serves. By listening, considering and then deciding the best course of action, the mayor and council can apply their energies towards executing tailor-made solutions rather than adapting prefab possibilities borrowed from other places and dealing with the fallout of non-inclusive decision making.
[accordion title="Paul Butler"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
Problems come largely from three areas: “mission creep,” cost overruns and operating expense.
Mission creep: the fact that you can get a grant to build it doesn’t on its own make it a good idea. Regularly refer back to your goals, which should be based on your strategic plan. Be cautious of expanding beyond those goals. (We started out to build a library addition: are we still doing that?)
Cost overruns: to avoid surprises, check your assumptions. Then check again. And again. Do it before you go ahead. (Assume there likely is asbestos, not that there isn’t.)
Operating expense: do you know what it will cost over the next 25 years? And do you know who will assume that cost?
All three potentials are addressed with straightforward business modelling: Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Return on Investment (ROI) analysis. There’s an App for that. We just haven’t been using it and we need to start.
We know public projects are not per se financially profitable. But LCC and ROI analyses still apply: we may count bums in seats or user days rather than profit but the return to the community still has to be there.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
Bi-monthly public council meetings are one way we provide opportunities for residents to contribute their views and ideas. Council should continue that practice and should listen and respond. Sections 12-14 of the new procedural bylaw 166 outline parameters for written and verbal submissions to council and council’s responsibility to respond. These measures are a good start, but are not on their own enough.
Along with continuing to utilize resident satisfaction surveys, I’d support a couple of additional measures for public input. One would be to publish quarterly progress reports in the Fitzhugh and on the municipality’s website describing specific actions and improvements relating to the functions identified in the Municipal Score Card.
The second would be to hold casual forums based on the format of the recent “speed dating” forum. I personally found that format to be useful and helpful and I have no doubt it could be effectively employed on an ongoing basis as a way for residents to be heard and council to listen and learn.
Sebastian Byrd
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
Having someone to be held responsible for spending instead of playing the blame game when something goes wrong would be a good start.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
Keeping the public informed and active in the decisions that ultimately affect Jasper’s residents. I feel too much is hidden from the public eye and shoved under the carpet for someone to deal with later.
[accordion title="Bob Covey"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
Capital project plans should be developed based on budget guidelines and presented in public meetings. Those plans, quite simply, should be followed to the letter. More interesting to me are operational budgets. In either case, however, solid business plans are needed to provide a framework for spending. They should link to guiding documents to create budgets and work plans that ensure a consistent strategic direction. These business plans should be given opportunity for public scrutiny and input from other stakeholders, such as businesses and community groups. I think it would be prudent for administrators to offer evaluations to councillors which represent funding reduction scenarios, so that departments can look at new ways of delivering services.
I believe Jasper is doing many of these things currently but a focus on business plans ensures both capital and operational spending provide value-for-dollar and remain responsive to our citizens and customers.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
The municipality has various policies, procedures and practices that ensure accountability and transparency, but especially during an election, it should be made clear that financial oversight, service standards and performance reporting will be made available and accessible, in language that the public can understand, to increase the opportunity for public scrutiny and involvement in municipal operations.
[accordion title="Rico Damota (incumbent)"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
There is an ongoing capital plan which is reviewed regularly. There are prioritized projects, some earmarked with allotted funding. Sometimes we may get government funding opportunities with deadlines which may bump up priorities, we have to be careful with those.
I am a firm believer that just because we have that opportunity, doesn’t mean we should take it. We need to look seriously at the long term operation costs attached to new projects. Aside from a few recent ones, capital project expenses have been on a downward trend overall. I understand that trend seems different when we have many things going on in the public eye. At this point, I feel that Jasper needs a break from construction, other than new possible (and proper) housing of course.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
This is a matter of perception. We have worked hard to be transparent, I feel we’ve done great in that department. Same for accountability.
Communication to the public, and accessibility of council are where we need more growth to expose that transparency and accountability. I was instrumental, with a few other councillors, in getting a Communications Committee struck.
From there, we developed a new policy to get information out as efficiently and effectively as possible. I started my own councillor Facebook group in an attempt to get input from the public, and get info out. Although not perfect yet, it does help. Traditional media is still effective in Jasper, however I feel social media plays an important role as well. Our new public engagement policy streamlines how meetings operate, and currently it is still a bit inflexible for accessibility in a town our size. The new council can always review that.
John Glaves
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
The municipality will have to spend money on capital projects. The key is to approach these projects with common sense. If we don’t need it, don’t do it.
If we do require it, examine the timeline, the method of financing, make an effort not to be extravagant and be sure to account for future costs. Try to save funds in advance for large capital projects instead of spending funds we don’t presently have. We will have some large capital expenditures coming forward in regards to required infrastructure, and all of the above should be applied.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
To increase transparency and accountability to the community, I would recommend that council:
a. Meet at least bi-monthly in the evening to ensure citizens with 9–5 jobs can attend
b. Twice a year, hold open forums
c. Similar to courthouse briefs, we should publish “Council Briefs” with a link to more detailed information should the reader so require.
[accordion title="Dong Han"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
First, we must prioritize and focus on those services that support the core values of the community and dedicate the limited municipal resources towards those areas.
Second, apply the concept of LEAN management where municipal service providers constantly evaluate and eliminate those activities and expenditures that are wasteful and strengthen those activities that realize greater efficiencies.
Third, we must reduce or eliminate those activities that provide no benefit to the citizens of Jasper or its future citizens.
Finally, we all know that there is lot of honest hard work ahead of us. We must be responsible, accountable and transparent. After all, we are spending taxpayers’ money.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
I would like to see more e-organization (e-government), which is digitizing all government works and services, in order to provide government services efficiently, effectively and with higher transparency to citizens.
For example, e-organization will allow the town council to provide the general public with access to an on demand online site through the IDN (Integrated Digital Network).
Every transition, work and service provided by the local government’s decision-making processes should be recorded to digital forms for the records, and that to be accessible online for their taxpayers.
The e-organization is effective, efficient, cost-saving, and will keep the local government more accountable.
[accordion title="Paul Height"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
The answer is quite simple, elect the right people to council who in turn hire the right managers and then review their work on a periodic basis. If their work is unacceptable, then promptly retrain or replace them. Not every councillor has to have a construction or accounting background. However, they have to be able to ask the hard and right questions of their managers and consultants, and accept only solid answers.
Those managers and consultants are the ones who need to be experienced in operating a town of our size and in project management. If we cannot find qualified full-time personnel then we may have to look at job sharing such as by semi-retired professionals and provide them with housing. We may not even need the experts on staff; we may be able to have good managers who then consult with a mentor or professionals.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
Since even before Jasper became a town, I have raised financial and operational issues about the municipality in its local newspapers, and in direct communications to its council and administrators. Only to be admonished by them and their supporters, including publicly through the newspapers and on the municipal website.
I even sent a confidential email to the town’s officials raising the concern about possible over billing by a subcontractor to the town. An official promptly advised the subcontractor who in turn advised my governing body. As a result, that body found me guilty of professional misconduct and published the notice in the local newspaper. My family was hurt and I had to pay a fine and costs of $31,000. So if the municipality wants to now start practicing transparency and accountability, then actually address the issues being raised rather than turning their lawyers and staff on the complainants and publishers.
Helen Kelleher-Empey
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
The municipality should impose a time- based performance bond on all capital projects. Review all aspects of the project with the contractors, engineers, etc., be well informed before approving any capital projects. Council also needs to review the maintenance expenditure of a capital project as there are no grants for maintenance once the project is built—it is up to the municipality to maintain.
The hiring of the Operations Director for the municipality has been a good step forward as it will be the director’s responsibility to keep these projects in check and council needs to have a regular update on each project’s expenditures and overruns.
We have to remember we are not an oil base funded society and we have a zero to negative growth. We can only operate within the budget of Jasperites.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
Good communication is key—continue to post current information on the municipal website, Facebook and other forms of social media. We need to increase one-on-one communications with our citizens, create venues to have open dialogue with our community groups, residents, businesses and seniors. When working within the Grande Alberta Economic Development Region, some municipalities held business and community visitation studies to find out what their citizens needed.
As council we need to get out there and meet with our citizens and hear about their concerns and advise them what council is working on. We should have a monthly information piece within our local newspaper and on our social media venues and advise on a regular basis what is happening within the municipality.
[accordion title="Fred Kreiner"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
There is little doubt that Jasper inherited an infrastructure deficit when it was created as a municipality. It is important that capital projects are done within budget, that contractors are held accountable for completing work on time and up to standard. It is also a vital need to diversify the revenue stream by pressuring other levels of government to recognize the unique situation of our municipality, with limited possibilities for extending the tax base and serving a large tourist population and provide funding from such revenues as the hotel tax directly back to the community to ensure funds are available to continue to address the infrastructure needs of our community.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
It is important that council recognize that a diversity of opinion is not a weakness but a strength. It fosters debate around tough decisions and ultimately provides for better overall policy. Unfortunately, that debate seems to have been held outside of the public eye, which leads to a perception of little transparency.
We must ensure that councillors engage with citizens to understand their points of view and bring that to the council table. The rightful place for discussion on any issue is at public meetings where councillors bring the diverse opinions of the public to the table.
[accordion title="Brian Nesbitt"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
I believe going forward council will have to prioritize our capital expenditures to deal with our existing infrastructure needs and obligations. To manage the costs of these projects the municipality needs to develop an “Infrastructure Maintenance Plan” and implement Life Cycle Costing to assist in project planning and decision making. These are recommendations right out of the Services and Structural Review.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
Transparency is achieved through open government. All decisions made by council are made at council meetings. All meetings are open to the public and of course the press. Is that enough? No.
The municipality has a communication strategy and policy. They need to be reviewed and refined if necessary. One glaring weakness is the ability to engage the younger residents and voters.
As for accountability, I think the fact that there are 23 candidates running for seven positions is the best form of accountability. You have a say! Get out and vote on Oct. 21.
Rich Potter
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
Beyond having a process in place for project management and a person on the ground to represent its interests on the project job site, the municipality needs a competent, responsible mayor and council to deal with the inevitable changes and cost overruns.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
I do not believe the municipality has an issue with transparency and accountability.
[accordion title="Monika Schaefer"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
There needs to be the highest degree of transparency in the planning of any future capital projects. My inclination is to be fiscally conservative, i.e. to be careful with spending. In general, I believe that the more we can do with existing structures, in terms of being creative in their use (multipurpose), the better.
We should also strive to use less energy in buildings, in fleets, and in everything we do.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
A diverse approach should be taken in engaging with the public, to reflect the changing landscape of communication in this day and age. Town hall meetings are still a very important and effective way of having discussions with the citizens about community developments. And now of course one cannot ignore the importance and impact of social media, in reaching and communicating with the public.
Councillors and the mayor are servants of the people, and therefore, must be open and available to listen to and engage with the citizens in a meaningful way.
The Sustainability Plan of 2011, which came about after a lengthy public engagement process, has many excellent recommendations. Accountability could be improved by monitoring and publishing a regular report card showing what has been implemented and what is still to come, complete with timeline. In the absence of this, good plans tend to be shelved and forgotten.
[accordion title="Jeff Smith"]
I’m hoping to get onto council so I can learn more about what goes on behind the scenes and to have more of an open mind towards the community, not just what I read about or hear about, I want to focus on all issues. I like new challenges.
Jack Templeton
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
The problem is not managing the finances, but managing the construction costs of a project. There are generally two types of construction contracts that I am aware of: fixed price and cost plus. Most are the fixed cost variety where the contractors bid on a capital project after reviewing the drawings and specifications, doing a project cost analysis and submitting a bid. In normal cases, the price is fixed at the contract price and should be done for that price. In some cases where there are a lot of unknowns it may be agreed that the contractor will do the job and bill for his actual costs, plus a markup for his profit. In this case the project costing must be monitored very closely by the project manager for the town to ensure that only costs associated with the project are billed.
I would suggest that construction projects currently underway, such as the library, school and Caribou Creek housing be completed, occupied and paid for before any new capital projects are contemplated.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
I do not entirely agree with the new public engagement bylaw that was recently passed, in that it has made public engagement difficult when residents want to attend a council meeting and express their views at the meeting. In some cases, where the presentation is long and detailed, the CAO should be given two weeks notice to put it on the agenda and distribute material that can be reviewed by council members. In other cases the public should be able to e-mail or phone the CAO to express their desire to speak at the council meeting just a day or two before the meeting.
Unlike federal and provincial legislatures, there is no regularly scheduled “question period” at municipal council meetings, therefore there should be a simple and seamless way in which the public can make their views known. It must also be remembered that the chair of the meeting, normally the mayor, has control of the meeting to ensure speakers stay to the subject and limit their time speaking to avoid wasting council meeting time with unnecessary discussion.
[accordion title="Ann Thomas"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
The new Director of Operations who has just been hired comes with 20 years of management experience as Public Works Manager for the City of St. Albert and will be in charge of overseeing all major projects.
Projects undertaken by the municipality should be reviewed by all department personnel for suggestions to maximize cost efficiency before a final plan is approved by council.
It is vital that all the information, including maintenance costs of the life of the project, be known up front and due diligence exercised for the entire project.
I would propose that the townspeople be actively consulted regarding all capital projects costing over $5 million.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
First of all, I would like to see the council engaging the public on a direct and ongoing basis. I am in favour of the first council meeting of every month being in the evening so that more people have the chance to attend. This evening meeting should include a 15-minute question period with no advance notice required. Any resident could come before the council with questions at that time.
Secondly, I would be in favour of implementing a policy that requires quarterly reports from each of the five departments in the municipality.
These quarterly reports would show short and long-term goals as well as progress on current projects and actual and projected revenues and costs.
[accordion title="Dwain Wacko (incumbent)"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
It is important that we continue to address the infrastructure deficit.
We have access to Alberta MSI funds. We should continue to finance capital infrastructure projects through this program, but concentrate on projects such as street works and underground utilities that do not raise operational costs.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
I would like to see us produce an e-newsletter that is more reader-friendly than council minutes, offering citizens an opportunity to easily understand and inform themselves on the municipality’s activities.
Gilbert Wall (incumbent)
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
The library project drives a question like this and rightly so. A question was asked of the builder and architect in one of our public meetings along the same lines. Was there anything we could have done differently to have avoided the problems with the project? The answer was “NO.”
A discouraging answer to say the least, as the responsibility inevitably comes back to council. I can only say that I will be a lot more aggressive responding to issues during the planning and budgeting process of a project in the future.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
Our new administrative procedural bylaw and the community engagement policy should work together in giving constituents tools to be both engaged and be informed. The responsibility is shared on this point. We as a council and administration must inform, but the community must inform us as well.
[accordion title="Heather Young-Leslie"]
1) How do you propose the municipality manage its finances to ensure capital project expenses are kept in check?
We need a proactive infrastructure needs assessment, long-term management and life-cycle economic planning process, rather than just reacting to problems (or grant opportunities). We also need a Corporate Strategic Plan that we can use to determine financial resourcing, expected impact and project timing. Until then, the priorities from the Sustainability Plan of 2011 should guide council’s and Jasper municipality’s decisions, especially with respect to community enhancement projects, and capital projects should be prioritized in terms of impact for public health and safety, operational/environmental continuity, and community enhancement. Hiring our own planner may prove more efficient and cost effective than depending on Parks Canada. We also need a clearer legal and risk-management strategy for all of the municipality’s operations and projects.
2) How do you propose the municipality increase its transparency and accountability to the community?
I would like to hold public council meetings after regular work hours—Monday evenings, for example. The direction in the Community Engagement Plan—with multiple means of sharing information—is good, but I would also like to see a community question and answer blog on the municipality’s official website. Here, all councillors could answer questions posed by constituents, on a weekly basis (Facebook is too limited in access).
Some of the misperceptions about the dog park might have been avoided if council’s deliberations and rationales had been more clearly disseminated. At the same time, the full budget (rather than just summaries) should be available online. In addition, we should hold monthly public information sessions where a member of council or municipal staff discusses important documents and procedures —like the Sustainability Plan, or Alberta Municipalities Act, the budget, or the process for navigating Parks’ and municipality’s land use permits.
The municipal election is Oct. 21. Polls will be open from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the Jasper Activity Centre. For those who won’t be able to vote on election day or during the advanced poll, there will be a special ballot process. Those ballots are only available by contacting Beryl Cahill, Jasper’s returning officer, at 780-852-6503.
