Red Deer City Hall. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

"the burden of public office"

Second code of conduct investigation costs Red Deer taxpayers $107,000

Oct 28, 2021 | 10:13 AM

The final cost of an investigation into an unnamed city council member’s conduct is $107,000.

The City announced earlier this month that the results of that investigation – the second this year – will not be revealed, as per Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) laws after council voted not to accept a related-report.

The first investigation this year, which was revealed to be about former councillor Buck Buchanan’s conduct, cost taxpayers about $20,000.

Speaking to rdnewsNOW Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Ken Johnston empathized with the public’s desire to know more, especially with such a significant cost.

“It can’t be about the higher the cost, the more transparency because when you get into investigative matters, there are privacy matters,” he says. “On the campaign trail, I was asked about this many times, and I described it to people as the burden of public office. That is to say, and I mean this sincerely, we have to balance the public’s right to know and the individual’s, singularly or collectively, right to privacy.”

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Johnston says if a member of the public is still discontent, they can take solace in council’s second resolution, which is for a new and improved code of conduct bylaw to be crafted.

“When we decided to not accept the report, it was about the procedural fairness of the issue and the role clarity between council and administration. So when you look at something like procedural fairness, you have to start with how the bylaw is structured,” he explains.

“The other piece of work is in following the best process we could, and which challenges have brought us to the point where we’re saying now that we need to make changes in the bylaw itself, and in working relationships between council and administration.”

A report and improved bylaw is anticipated for Q1 2022.

Adds the mayor: “I understand how this will resonate with people, but what we’ve learned internally and what we’re committing to do better is the key message here.”

The City has $185,000 in its budget for legal costs annually.

More about the City’s Code of Conduct Bylaw is at RedDeer.ca.

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