GUELPH – Wellington County council has approved, in principal, a plan for a third-party review of the county’s governance and communication structure.
Council voted to proceed with the review after the plan was presented in a motion by Warden Andy Lennox at the Jan. 25 meeting.
“I envision an ‘audit’ to determine if Wellington County is following best practices before, during and after decision making and meetings,” states a report from the warden outlining the work plan.
“The purpose of this is really to kind of get an external third party to do a bit of an audit of our process and our procedures, our communication around our governance, to make sure that we’re being doing it the best we possibly can,” Lennox told the Advertiser.
He added he is initiating the review as follow-up to the county’s updated strategic action plan, which was approved by council in June of 2023.
“Making the best decisions for the betterment of the community” was among the key actions listed in the plan.
“In the months since the adoption of our 2023 strategic action plan I have heard concerns raised from council members and other external community members, regarding the current decision-making and communication processes and practices,” the warden stated in his report.
Lennox points out a recently-completed resident satisfaction survey also identified communication with residents as “an area of concern and opportunity for improvement.”
The plan outlined by the warden involves a review or audit to be completed by an external party “with broad experience in Ontario.”
The plan, with a proposed budget of $10,000 to $15,000, would involve municipal staff providing information and support “with outside assistance that can bring relevant experience from a wide range of other jurisdictions into the conversation.”
The audit would start with a review of core documents, including policies and bylaws practices, followed by conversations with municipal staff and a report to council on changes that might be implemented, their timing and their costs, the warden’s report indicates.
A proposed work plan indicates the warden will seek council’s endorsement for a more detailed specific proposal in February, with the review to be completed by June.
Recommendations would be implemented through the third quarter of 2024.
A satisfaction survey of council members would be conducted during the third quarter of 2025 “to validate any changes implemented [and to] measure and share results.”
The report indicates results “could be further validated” through future resident satisfaction surveys.
Lennox told the Advertiser the county’s approach to communications could be among the changes to result from the review.
“Perhaps the way that we communicate some of the decisions of council, I do hear comments from councillors about maybe the local municipalities aren’t understanding what’s happening. Maybe we can refine that,” he suggested.
The process for making decisions could also be impacted, he added.
“We want to make sure that we’re doing the best in class… on some of those things so that not only members of council and other stakeholders in our community, but the public, understands the process we’re going through to make decisions,” Lennox stated.
