(CHAT News)

By Eli J. Ridder | @EliRidder

Medicine Hat council removes need for mayoral sign-off on major city procurement costs to reduce red tape

Mar 18, 2024 | 7:04 PM

Medicine Hat city council has given high-level staff the ability to sign off on major procurement costs without requiring the signature of the mayor and city clerk in a decision that’s expected to reduce red tape for those the city does business with.

Mayor Linnsie Clark raised concerns over losing an element of accountability but ended up voting in favour of the bylaw on its third reading during Monday’s council meeting.

The changes bring the city’s procurement policy in-line with other municipalities like Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge and Grande Prairie, according to staff.

Without needing mayoral sign-off, vendors could receive cash as fast as 48 or 72 hours instead of two weeks, Coun. Allison Knodel said.

Dennis Egert, the city’s managing director of corporate services, said the changes will save taxpayer money.

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Clark’s concerns about “checks and balances” were largely brushed off by the rest of council, who insisted there was to be virtually no change in the sharing of information as the entire horseshoe doesn’t hear of every procurement contract anyways.

Coun. Ramona Robins gave an example of a time she was deputy mayor and needed to sign off on a procurement document, saying she would not have known what that particular contract was about if she was not sent in the mayor’s place in that case.

“I did not report back to the rest of council what I had signed and Mayor Clark has not reported to any of us any of the things that she’s signed,” Robins said.

“So, in terms of checks and balances, I am not sure it’s that effective the way it is right now,” she added, asking administrative staff what could be done to ensure accountability.

Egert said there’s “levels of review” that occur before a contract reaches the point of requiring a high-level signature, including input from the city legal experts and the signature of a managing director.

“I can assure council that this isn’t a change in the detailed work that we do in getting this contract ready for signature, the only difference is who puts pen to paper,” Egert said.

Clark was the sole vote against the change during one of the readings before giving her support in the third and final reading.