Municipal administrators get new code of conduct

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An agency representing hundreds of administrators in Manitoba’s municipalities is taking steps to ensure those who hold those roles are acting ethically and professionally and not taking advantage of their positions for personal gain.

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Manitoba Municipal Administrators (MMA) president and current CAO of the City of Selkirk Duane Nicol spoke on Monday about a new Professional Code of Conduct was passed last week at the organization’s annual general meeting.

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“As administrators we want to demonstrate that we are here for public service, and to be part of good governance,” Nicol said. “We support councils in making good decisions and delivering municipal services effectively, so it’s important that the public can have confidence in the people who hold these roles.

“Administrators must be fully competent in delivering those municipal services responsibly and that’s a duty of care that we’ve always had.”

MMA currently represents 320 members, including the CAOs of Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba’s two largest cities, and according to Nicol the “vast majority” of those who hold municipal administrator positions in this province are doing their jobs professionally and ethically and in the best interest of the people they serve.

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There has been an example in Manitoba recently however, of an administrator allegedly using their position to steal from the municipality, as in February of last year, the RM of Gilbert Plains launched a lawsuit against its now former CAO, alleging they electronically transferred more than $516,000 from the municipality into a personal account without authorization. The allegations have yet to be tested in court.

Nicol said the code of conduct clearly defines professional standards for MMA members and has tools to hold members to those standards including a formal complaint process that will allow administrators and members of municipal councils to file official complaints against other administrators directly with MMA.

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According to Nicol, a formal complaint would then launch an MMA investigation and members could be disciplined if they are found to have violated the MMA’s code of conduct, failed to comply with the by-laws or policies of the MMA or taken part in anything that could be considered criminal conduct.

But Nicol said although the code of conduct will work to prevent unethical behaviours or actions, he believes that more importantly, it will create a clear set of professional standards for all administrators.

“We are seeing a pretty massive swing in the expectations of citizens on their local governments,” Nicol said. “So the more that is expected out of councils, the more that is going to be expected out of administrators. This is simply codifying those standards and making them as clear as possible.

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“We see more and more other professions and roles creating specific standards to elevate the capacity to deliver quality of service and this is the MMA responding to that.

“This is making sure that people can have the utmost confidence in their administrators so that they can also have that confidence in their local governments.”

As part of the new code, administrators will now also be required to increase the amount of professional development work they do in a year by approximately 20%.

According to Nicol, the MMA does not have the power to remove an administrator from their position if they find they have breached their code of conduct, but details of any investigation would be handed to municipal councils so they could decide what actions should be taken.

Anyone who has breached their code of conduct could also be expelled from the MMA which along with any punishment would go on their permanent record with the organization.

— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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