It looks like councillors here are picking the same municipal meeting investigator as other Wellington County municipalities – in the hopes of keeping continuity.
The decision came during council’s final meeting for 2007, following a recommendation by Clerk Barb Wilson that Minto hire Norm Gamble be appointed for the role.
The appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2008.
Wilson told council that under revisions of the Municipal Act, council had a number of options. She said remaining status quo would automatically default any requests for investigations to the Ontario Ombudsman’s office. Her written comments highlighted other municipalities who are concerned that the Ombudsman is making sweeping generalizations about municipalities on the basis of presumption.
As a result, she wrote, “Using the Ontario Ombudsman may not be in our best interest.”
Another option was for the municipality to proceed with the LAS service, which she considered expensive compared to the use of the Ombudsman, which is a free services.
For hiring LAS, in addition to a $600 deposit, the service cost is estimated to be $1,250 per day.
The third option, she said is to use Gamble, already appointed as Wellington County’s meeting investigator.
Gamble is a former county Chief Administrative Officer, and, “His costs are quite reasonable at $350 per day.” Wilson added the appointment was needed prior to the 2008 or any challenges would automatically default to the Ontario Ombudsman’s office. She also hoped Gamble’s appointment would add some continuity to the way issues are handled within Wellington County.
Mayor David Anderson agreed. “It would be good to have uniformity on this. It would be better for us in the end.”
