Costs accrued for town councillors attending the 2013 Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) conference held last month in Calgary have yet to be approved by council, but will be addressed this evening.
Mayor Roger Morrill expressed alarm at how much the conference cost at council’s last meeting; however, at least one councillor who attended the conference believes concerns about the price tag should have been voiced before councillors attended — not after.
“I attended the AUMA conference with the knowledge that council knew I was attending both the conference and the pre-sessions. No objection from any member at our organizational meeting was voiced,” said councillor Tanu Tyszka-Evans.
Council agreed at its Oct. 29 organizational meeting that councillors Nichole Adams, Steve Schafer and Tyszka-Evans would attend the conference, in addition to chief administrative officer (CAO) Ryan Maier.
More than $10,000 was spent in registration and hotel fees (booked by administration), councillor pay for days attended, and meal subsidies and mileage (claimed by councillors) the week of the Nov. 20–22 conference.
Tyszka-Evans pointed out that the conference itself was not a waste of money.
“AUMA is not a golf tournament or a spa vacation. This is a conference for learning and acquiring as much information as you possibly can,” he said.
Council defeated a motion made by Adams at the Dec. 3 town council meeting “that council approve AUMA costs and expenses as presented.”
Morrill said this is why council has to “bring (the cost) up and dissect it again” at tonight’s meeting.
Maier said while there is a $10,000 line item for conference/education costs in council’s annual budget, there was no authorized limit on expenditures related to the AUMA conference.
Adams said she was unaware of the $10,000 budget line item during the organizational meeting when three councillors were authorized to attend.
“I was surprised nobody brought it up when we said three people were going. No one brought it up that maybe we couldn’t afford to send three people, because the registration fees for the conference are quite pricey to begin with, and we can’t control those costs,” said Adams.
One of the items that drew the mayor’s censure at the Dec. 3 meeting was the choice of the Fairmont Palliser for councillor accommodation.
Tyszka-Evans said he was “quite displeased” when he learned they would be staying at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel in Calgary, but acknowledged the town had already booked the rooms and paid for the conference, at which point the decision was out of council’s hands.
Maier explained administration had not booked hotels in advance because it was not known who from council would be attending. By the time administration tried to make reservations, only the rooms at the Palliser were available.
“I’ve never had the need to charge my town for a hotel room,” said Morrill. “I’m not saying (that it is not) necessary from time to time for council members — I’m not saying that at all — but, in consideration, I’ve always been very careful …” said the mayor, adding that he has never filed an expense claim for meals at an AUMA conference he has attended.
As for expenses claimed by individual councillors, Tyszka-Evans said he did his best with the inherently high costs that came with attending the conference, even negotiating a lower cost for his hotel room upon check-in.
“The pre-conference did not supply breakfast and no part of the conference fees supplied supper. I carpooled to save expenses, did not claim an entire day of meeting per diem and paid the ridiculous parking and Internet fees myself,” said Tyszka-Evans.
“I used my own vacation days (from my day job) in order to attend this, because I believed it to be important, and I feel that in order to effectively run a $7-million corporation, educational sessions are an investment,” he said.
Schafer could not be reached for comment before going to press.
Adams said she sat through two pre-conference classes “specifically geared towards newly elected officials” earlier in the week — all-day classes she recalled to be “$300-something registration.”
She said despite the price tag, “they were invaluable courses” on infrastructure management and on councillor orientation and contract issues.
The knowledge she gained from the courses, she said, was will help her as a councillor in the long run. Due to the price, however, she is unsure if she will attend the conference next year.
“You know, from now on, after this (blow-up), I’m never staying at a pricey hotel again. I’ll probably be sleeping in the back of my truck so that the taxpayers don’t show up at my door with pitchforks and torches,” said Adams, who said she would support a policy putting a cap on hotel nights.
The mayor said “there was no clear policy” regulating councillor expense claims, but the reason he brought it up in council was for clarification from councillors and administration on their expenditures.
“I think that it’s a reasonable concern; however, I do question bringing up specific councillors’ expenses in the meeting, rather than just a general ‘oh, we went over budget’ type thing,” said Adams.
She said she understood where the mayor was coming from but said officials from other municipalities attending the conference spent considerably more than the Athabasca councillors did.
However, Morrill said it’s the councillors’ responsibility to have discretionary spending habits.
“Every councillor has been duly elected with a democratic vote by the citizens of Athabasca, and they have to now … in the role of councillor, decide on these things themselves,” he said.
Tyszka-Evans declined to comment on Morrill’s Dec. 3 remarks in council.
One thing all those involved seem to agree on is the need for clearer conference expenditure policies.
“In the future, (as) we are paying a membership to AUMA every year, we’re going to have to decide how many people we’re going to send every year, and can we fit it into the budget,” said Adams, believing the conference will be cheaper for councillors to attend next year. It is being held in Edmonton, which will result in less councillor mileage.
“I think it would be reasonable to look into reasonable accommodation,” said Morrill.
“Policies should be given to admin to find more reasonable accommodation, and perhaps council will decide that pre-conference sessions for new councillors are too expensive,” said Tyszka-Evans.
“There is no denying AUMA is an expensive conference, and perhaps council should be voicing that opinion to its member organization,” he said. “However, attendance at AUMA is important because this is where municipalities learn from each other, meet and lobby government officials and unite to make policy and improve local governance.”
Tyszka-Evans maintained that “if council as a whole decides that opportunities for professional development are not important, especially for new councillors, then policy must be made ahead of the event, not after accepting the attendance of councillors and then complaining about costs.”
