Town council will be discussing at a future date whether or not family members of council members should be attending council functions such as conferences or events in town.
The idea was put on the table by Mayor Judy Dahl at last week's policies and priorities committee meeting.
Dahl said as mayor, she has difficulty deciding what is an allowable expense by the town on behalf of councillors and wanted the entire situation made clearer.
“This is extremely difficult to handle. I just need some clarity,” she said, noting that in her three consecutive terms as mayor, the policy has been changed several times. In 2001, she said, a report was done for the town that recommended that a family member/spouse's registration fees for conferences as well as airfares should be paid for by the town. Dahl said she was comfortable with councillors deciding whether or not they wanted to include fees for spouses in their annual business plans.
“My biggest concern is the fact that as the mayor my responsibility is to give the approval of all council expense claims. Now, there's nothing in there that states clearly that, if for example, a councillor wants to go to an Olds College gala, whether the Town of Olds pays for his spouse's ticket or they pay for it. It gives the mayor the ability in there to say, ‘where appropriate, yes,' but the way I work I like transparency and it to be yes or no,” she said.
Dahl said some municipalities do this up to $200 per councillor.
Dahl said she was uncomfortable with having a family member of a councillor attending a town function on the town's tab and wanted that instance struck from policy. She said she still wanted spouses' expenses to be paid for by the town, however.
The town regularly pays the fees of spouses to attend at least three in-town functions per year, Dahl said, but she wondered if council should change that policy.
Coun. Murray Ball said he believed that spouses should be covered for in-town functions, but councillors should pay for trips for their spouses when out-of-town travel is required.
“I certainly think that for the mayor's position, the mayor does a lot of work and the town should pay for a spouse's (fees),” he said.
"This is extremely difficult to handle. I just need some clarity."Mayor Judy Dahl, Town of Olds
