Medicine Hat mayor pleased to see traction on transparency issues

“I’m very happy that it’s moving along,” Clark told CHAT News on Tuesday, citing mixed emotions.

“I felt particularly frustrated that through the course of our discussions last night it did seem like the administration hadn’t even looked into whether the information I requested was disclosable or not.”

McGrogan argued that posting the expenses would save city staff time and Medicine Hat residents money because they’re accessible via a request under Alberta’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy law anyways.

George Cuff, a municipal expert and former mayor, says posting the money staff spend on travel, meals and hosting is standard practice for many Canadian municipalities.

“From a general perspective, municipalities are not shy about sharing salary information, which would probably include expenses as well,” Cuff said.

Clark last year also asked for information related to employee severance amounts and various other human resource metrics.

But a pair of motions from Coun. Shila Sharps asking for similar items were deferred until June 2 to allow staff the time to sort out if they would be accessible under the provincial privacy law.

Sharps pointed out a resident received staff bonuses through what’s known as a “FOIP” request, so she knows that much of the data she’s asking to be posted publicly is already accessible through that method.

The city’s chief administrator Ann Mitchell, who was largely opposed to Clark’s original request to bring certain metrics into the public, said she needed time to verify Sharps’ claims.

However, Mitchell looked into how nine other cities approached severance agreements and expense claims and reported findings to council in October.

Eight of the cities don’t release the severance details publicly, according to the report.

However, one city said when it receives a FOIP request, it will respond with total amounts paid and the overall number of employees affected.

Sharps, in a statement to CHAT News on Tuesday, said she recalled Mitchell’s October report during Monday’s council meeting but didn’t want to exacerbate tensions at council.

“In an effort to ease the tension in the room, I chose not to pursue the conversation further for the time being,” Sharps said.

There was some pushback at from other councillors, too.

Knodel said the recent flurry of councillor motions are distracting city staff from carrying out council’s shortlist of objectives before the fall municipal election.

“Now we’re sending them on all these side quests,” Knodel said, adding

“I feel like we’re setting up our administration for failure and then calling them out as being frustrated in the public sphere and it’s not really fair to them,” she added.

“There’s no regard for capacity in the city manager role and, ultimately, if we keep piling tasks on and expecting staff to report back within the deadline we give them, they’re doomed to fail.”

Knodel, a teacher, gave the analogy of a student who is studying for an expected exam but then must take several pop quizzes.

“They would fail the exam,” she said, making the argument that council needs to treat chief administrator Ann Mitchell with compassion.

Knodel also said a small part of council was co-opting the city’s direction.

“If we allow a minority of council to continue to dictate immenent priorities, it doesn’t feel like we’re functioning as a collective,” she concluded.

In response to Knodel, Sharps pointed out that several councillor-initiated motions have received widespread council support.

“I am not a minority segment, I am an elected official just like everybody else around this table,” Sharps said.

“I am trying to move the needle forward on so many items, we all are. But, again, if they don’t go to committees and we don’t give answers, guess what, this is where we have to do it.”

Sharps in her Tuesday statement said she sensed some hesitation from council members but decided against “aggravating the conversation any further.”

The councillor explained she was in support of Mitchell and city staff taking the time for researching how other cities handle the metrics she wants public.

But, she said, “it should serve the purpose of understanding our current position, rather than being used as a reason to avoid advancing our practices.”

While Sharps is asking for severance data to be publicized on a regular basis, her other delayed motion directs staff to post the number of voluntary and involuntary terminations, total staff size and other metrics.

The proposals from McGrogan and Sharps come after several high-level staff departed the city over the early months of 2025.

Medicine Hat’s former chief financial officer Dennis Egert left the role in January. His new permanent replacement attended her first council meeting in the position on Monday.

Former IT director Marty Robinson, utility distribution director Grayson Mauch and former economic development officer Brady Schnell also are among the exits.

None of those former city employees have said publicly why they aren’t in the role anymore. Sharps has not confirmed that her motions are tied to their departures.

The city, in response to a request for comment from CHAT News last month, maintained its policy of not commenting on private personnel matters.

When asked Monday night if the pushback on her human resource transparency requests adds to the legitimacy of her request, Sharps kept her response short.

“Yep, that would be a hard yes.”

by Eli J. Ridder

Medicine Hat mayor pleased to see traction on transparency issues

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