Integrity commissioner on hold
Durham still on hunt for candidate after submissions disqualified; new request for proposals to be issued
By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
The region had planned to have an integrity commissioner in place this fall. However, those plans have been delayed.
According to a report included with the Aug. 26 councillor information package that did not make it to the agenda of the first committee of the whole meeting, currently scheduled for Sept. 7, but briefly mentioned in another, a request for proposals issued this year for an integrity commissioner was unsuccessful after all three respondents were disqualified.
“Each of them had problems. I’ve been told each were evaluated and were found to be noncompliant with some requirements of the RFP,” Matt Gaskell, the region’s commissioner of corporate services, tells The Oshawa Express.
“There were a variety of issues – some missing documents, some issues related to how they structured their financial proposal. I don’t want to go into detail because the RFP was discontinued, but they’re things that we’re trying to address in the new RFP to make abundantly clear so that we don’t have that again.”
Gaskell says he plans to have a new request for proposals issued by Sept. 15 at the latest.
Because the position of the integrity commissioner for the region has been delayed, so too has the enforcement of a proposed code of conduct.
However, Gaskell says a report will be coming to the first committee of the whole meeting on Sept. 7 to address this issue.
“I didn’t want to leave it languish, so I brought it back to request approval by council for it to become effective once an integrity commissioner has been appointed,” he says.
This is the latest hiccup in establishing the integrity commissioner’s office and the corresponding code of conduct.
Prior to council’s summer recess, Gaskell told The Oshawa Express that there had been problems in getting the RFP out for the position at the same time as the one for regional ombudsman position. The plans had originally been to put the two notices out simultaneously.
“These things are detailed. I’m a little disappointed that, frankly, I really wanted them both at the same time,” he said.
The idea for a regional council code of conduct and an integrity commissioner to enforce it were first approved by council last year, when councillors voted in favour of creating both, as well as the creation of a regional ombudsman.
Unlike the integrity commissioner position, the regional ombudsman did not face the same delays, with councillors voting in favour of awarding the contract to ADR Chambers Inc, effective July 1, at their final council meeting prior to the summer break.
According to a report presented to councillors at the time, ADR Chambers will be given an annual retainer fee of $12,000, with any investigations billed at $250 per hour plus taxes.
The report also states that services through ADR Chambers, such as special presentations to local councils, will be billed at that same rate.
ADR Chambers will be under contract with the Region of Durham until the end of 2022.