Where is accountability in City administration

By Lethbridge Herald on May 5, 2022.

Editor:

Who’s really running Lethbridge City Hall?

Since moving to this fine city in 2008, I’ve witnessed a surprising and, frankly, disturbing, number of incidents of civic negligence, heavy-handed treatment of partners, and a shocking lack of oversight on civic contracts worth hundreds of thousands up to multiple millions of dollars.

Like what, you might ask? 

How about the big bond investment boondoggle? Or the $100,000 fraud perpetrated by a staff member at the old, and notoriously-managed Chinook Country Tourism? A fraud that did not precipitate a change in management! But recently its replacement organization has gone through four CEO’s in about as many years.

And then there’s the burn rate for City Managers -one of whom told a public meeting of businesspeople that he’d never had a position in decades of experience where he received constant phone calls from senior people demanding that nothing change, saying ‘that’s the way we’ve always done things here, and we want it to continue!’ 

So if council can’t directly run the city – which they can’t – and no manager is able to succeed in doing so, what does that say about accountability in city departments?

Examples abound: a recent city decision to pull funding from Volunteer Lethbridge for a senior’s connection program that was so successful it had been copied around the province, and give the money for the program to the LSCO instead. 

A decision so sudden that a CJOC interview airing on April 28 was still talking about Volunteer Lethbridge running and being very proud of the program, when in fact the funding had been pulled. 

Or the granting of a multi-million dollar contract to the YMCA to run the fabulous new city-owned facility on the west side in spite of red flags being raised by city staff about the lack of oversight built in to the deal? 

Red flags that have proven somewhat prescient, as the senior management at the new Y generated a lot of upset among long-time members, and put unqualified paid fitness instructors in place while estranging qualified volunteer instructors, some with decades of service. 

The Fort Whoop-Up society saga is worth another letter on its own, but for those who remember, it was another example of the city seeming to punish those who speak up for accountability at City Hall.

Now, obviously, any city with lots of money to spend, and play with, is going to have issues. 

And accusations are easy to throw around. But everything I’ve noted is documented, not theoretical. And it must be noted many of the organizations mentioned have boards who ostensibly provide oversight and accountability for the millions in city dollars under their care.

But the continuing pattern of, dare I say it, poor contract management, makes one wonder: who’s really running City Hall?

A.R. Gibson

Lethbridge