MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - County council has approved updates to the municipality’s complaint Policy #1021, which establishes the process for handling complaints received by the county that fall within municipal jurisdiction.
The move came by way of motion at the recent regularly scheduled council meeting, held in person and online.
The updated policy statement now reads: “Mountain View County will establish a process for the handling of complaints received by the county that fall within municipal jurisdiction.”
Jeff Holmes, the county's chief administrative officer (CAO), said the changes “are resulting from some year-end discussions with council.”
The policy has also been updated to include a new principle that states: “The county will re-direct complaints to the proper authority of jurisdiction for complaints that fall outside municipal authority.”
Holmes said, “This would be for things such as provincial-related matters or RCMP related matters that we receive concerns on. There are lots of circumstances where there can be multiple jurisdictional issues. If there are concerns that we do not have the authority to address, we would refer it to the appropriate provincial agency.”
Council also received as information a number of related amendments to Procedure #1021-01 that accommodates the policy.
Regarding complaints about staff, the procedures now states: “Competence or conduct of staff inquiries will be referred to the CAO and human resources for investigation. Public inquiries about staff conduct will be referred to the CAO and human resources for investigation if they cannot be resolved at the department level.”
The complaint procedures section of the procedure now states that when verbal complaints are received, “staff will ask complainants if they want the complaint recorded and will provide assistance with documenting the complaint as needed.
“Complaints are responded to on a priority basis, with response time dependent upon the availability of personnel at the time of the call and the priority of the complaint compare with other files in progress.
“Anonymous complaints will not be investigated unless potential safety, health or imminent liability issues are identified by the county.”
The time frame section now states: “Progress updates will be provided at routine intervals or when significant changes or updates to the complaint response are available.”
Complaint forms are available on the country website, on the county app, and from the county office.
