Mountain View County council has approved a change to the Council Code of Conduct approved in June. The move came by way of an amending bylaw motion at the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
When passed in June, the Council Code of Conduct bylaw’s section 14.06 stated: “In the event that the complaint that a majority of members of council breached this bylaw, the complaint shall be submitted to the Alberta Ombudsman.”
In a briefing note to council, administration said upon further review, that section will not be workable.
“Since the passage of this bylaw, the role and responsibilities of the Alberta Ombudsman has been established and clarified to only include reviews of ‘administrative decision, recommendation, act or omission.'
“As the Council Code of Conduct Bylaw does not grant administration authority to make any decisions or recommendations, but instead leaves the final decision making authority in council, no decision nor act could be reviewed by the Alberta Ombudsman.”
At the recommendation of administration, the code has been changed to include the following:
“In the event that the complaint alleges that a majority of the members of council breached this bylaw (Council Code of Conduct bylaw), the complainant proceed with a municipal inspection as outlined under Section 571(1)(c) of the Municipal Government Act.”
Section 571 (1)(c) of the MGA states that “the Minister (of Municipal Affairs) may require any matter connected with the management, administration or operation of any municipality to be inspected if the Minister receives a sufficient petition requesting the inspection that is signed in the case of a municipality other than a summer village by electors of the municipality equal in number to at least 20 per cent of the population.”
The Council Code of Conduct amending bylaw received first and second reading last month, with final reading adjourned to allow administration to provide further background to council.
