Council and municipal administrator Jim Godfrey have pledged to go "forward in a positive way" when it comes to his contract renewal talks in November.
The decision was made two months ago, even though an ongoing governance review could possibly change the role of the administrator.
"That was a decision that we made as a council in May and went forward with it, knowing full well that we are going through this governance review and there would perhaps be changes in the nature of his job," Councillor Gord McKeever said recently.
The administrator’s contract expires in November but it stipulates that he be given six-months notice if the contract is not renewed.
"Council clearly indicated a willingness to have a job for Jim, the top job for Jim," McKeever said.
"The contract hasn’t been finalized but the intention on both sides was a positive intention – that’s what’s gone forward."
Godfrey did not want to comment on the matter saying that discussions to date have been held during in camera meetings.
Mayor Hugh O’Reilly was also reticent to speak about the contract because it’s a personnel matter. Typically personnel issues are dealt with in private negotiations.
He did say, however, that the contract is connected in some ways to the in depth governance review which is currently underway at municipal hall.
That review examines and defines the relationship between the mayor and council and the administrator and municipal staff.
"They’re not related but in some ways they are because really we’re talking about how we want to govern ourselves and there’s a section that talks about the role of the mayor, the councillors, the CAO (Chief Administrative Officer), which Jim is," said O’Reilly.
"Initially we’ve got good agreement on the governance (model) and that we’re not making any radical changes, so I think there’s room there to continue a negotiation with Mr. Godfrey."
A four-member task force, made up of the mayor, the administrator and Councillors McKeever and Nick Davies, has been working on the review since the end of last year.
After vetting it through consultants, a draft version was presented to the rest of council on Monday for a workshop session.
The mayor said he was pleased with the workshop and the dialogue that came from the session.
"I think it’s an impressive piece of work," he said.
"I think council overall was very pleased."
There is some debate on the eventual outcome of the review.
Davies was confident that the roles of both the mayor and the municipal administrator would not change after the review.
"Really what we’re talking about here is simply a balance of responsibilities between a mayor and an administrator, and different communities and different organizations have different balances," said Davies.
"And I don’t see that balance changing. But what this governance review will do is bring light to bear on that balance so that we can wrap our minds around whether that balance is appropriate."
McKeever has a somewhat different perspective on the outcome of the governance review, which he said would bring more checks and balances in favour of council.
"There’s all kinds of different methods of government over the years – strong mayor, strong council, strong administrator… there’s a lot of different things ranging from a very operational oriented, very controlling council to a very passive rubber stamp council – there’s a continuum, a spectrum," he said.
"…It was at one end of the spectrum not too long ago with a strong mayor and it swung to a very strong administrator at the other end of the spectrum and I think that it’s coming back a little more in the middle, and I think that that’s where we’re going to end up."
Both councillors, however, agreed on one significant change which would likely flow from the governance review.
A series of committees could be developed with council representation.
"These committees would actually do some of the deeper grilling into certain topics that we’re finding right now is tying up the committee of the whole (council)," said McKeever.
The committees will also allow councillors who are passionate about a particular topic to really get involved in it, allowing council as a whole to stick to high level policy decisions.
"That separates their board function from a project function so that’s a way to relieve some of this desire to really roll up the sleeves," said O’Reilly.
"It allows people to be satisfied with what they’re doing and feel like they’re giving the input they want."
Councillor Marianne Wade said the review would bring positive changes to the status quo at the hall.
"I think that there’s a recognition of more engagement," she said.
"I think that there’s a recognition of greater detail and reporting and greater identification of process and engagement with the community."
She is also pleased that an overall organizational review of municipal hall from top to bottom will likely flow from the governance review.
The task force will now weave the feedback from the council workshop into the document. The final document should be complete by the fall.
"Hopefully at the end we’ll have a living document that we’ll continue to work with," said O’Reilly.
"One that will be a great legacy for future councils… (and one) that we can continue to work with and improve our efficiencies and abilities to deliver services to the community in a way that works."
