Coun. Shila Sharps voted in favour, along with the rest of council, for the recommended code of conduct changes. Eli J. Ridder/CHAT News

By Eli J. Ridder

Medicine Hat takes step towards getting an integrity commissioner

Jun 17, 2024 | 9:04 PM

Medicine Hat is one step closer to getting a third-party integrity commissioner for complaints against its elected leaders.

City council on Monday voted unanimously to approve a recommendation from the city solicitor’s office to direct staff to work on a series of amendments to its code of conduct bylaw.

Along with hiring the integrity commissioner, council plans to open up the complaint process beyond just members of council to anyone lives, works or owns land or a business in Medicine Hat, following Red Deer’s model.

Coun. Shila Sharps was pleased the city is closer to updating the code of conduct.

“There was a lot on our…to-do list and this is one of them,” Sharps told reporters after the meeting.

WHAT'S ON

Here is what's on this weekend in Medicine Hat and area: Dec. 13-15

14h ago

IN THE COMMUNITY

Medicine Hat's Mustard Seed adding new shelter spaces at Alberta government's request

Dec 12, 2024

HOLIDAYS

Medicine Hat Kiwanis hosting Christmas dinner, applications due Friday

Dec 12, 2024

“We’re all pretty happy because we’ve never thought it should be internal,” she said of the complaint process.

Eli J. Ridder/CHAT News

Sharps made a code of conduct complaint against Mayor Linnsie Clark last year that led to a third-party investigation.

The findings of the investigation led to council voting to strip Clark of her mayoral powers and cut her salary in half earlier this year, leading to a leadership crisis and ongoing legal action.

Council interrupted its effort to update the code of conduct bylaw in April to ask staff to look into the possibility of an integrity commissioner.

The recommendations from the city solicitor’s office outlining the process for bringing in the changes passed through the administrative and legislative review committee on Tuesday.

The way the process is currently organized, conduct complaints are filtered by the committee, an approach that could expose council members to a conflict of interest.

The amount of time suggested by staff to get the policy implemented, open an application process and, finally, get an integrity commissioner in place by March 2025 seemed too long to councillors on the committee and at council Monday night.

However, Sharps said it’s important the process isn’t rushed.

“I also want to make sure that we hire the right person,” she said.

Staff will return to council later this year with recommended code of conduct changes for consideration.