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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil and Staff Liason Roles Policy 3.10.pdfCouncil and Staff Liaison Roles Policy 3.10 Page 1 of 6 Policy 3.10 POLICY MANUAL Title: Council and Staff Liaison Roles Policy No: 3.10 Supersedes: New Authority: Legislative Operational Approval: Council CMT General Manager Effective Date: April 14, 2010 Review Date: 2011 Policy Statement: Liaison Role Municipal Council will assign members of Council and/or Municipal Management will assign staff members to the role of municipal liaison to various community organizations where the relationship between the Municipality and the organization is deemed critical to achieving the Municipality’s mandate and goals. The role of liaison is intended to facilitate excellent and ongoing communication on matters of mutual interest. The intent of doing so is to ensure a continuing dialogue on how the Municipality and organization can work together to better meet the community needs they each hope to address. Council Liaisons Council members will only be assigned a liaison role where the liaison function is felt to be critical to achieving the Municipality’s mandate and where ongoing communication and knowledge gained from that communication and shared with the rest of Council by the liaison would assist Council as a whole in considering matters of common interest with the organization with whom they have a liaison function. Staff Liaisons A staff liaison may be more appropriately assigned where the organization to which they are assigned holds a fee for service contract with the municipality for the delivery of a Municipal service to citizens. While facilitating excellent on going communication is certainly part of a staff liaison role, monitoring performance to ensure delivery of agreed upon services is also part of the staff liaison function. Providing expert advice on effective organizational operations can also be part of the staff liaison function where that expertise may not exist within the organization itself. Page 2 of 6 Policy 3.10 Prioritizing requests for a Municipal liaison There may be requests for a Council or staff liaison from community organizations which cannot be accepted in part because the time available simply does not permit such assignments to every group wishing a liaison. Where priorities need to be set for assigning liaisons a higher priority will be given to those organizations delivering services on behalf of the Municipality and, secondly, to those organizations or networks which are not represented already through a Municipal committee or Commission and which represent a network of groups and agencies which are critical to achieving community needs for which the Municipality also has some responsibility. For example the Municipality would assign a liaison to the Arts Council as well as a staff liaison because it holds a significant contract with the Municipality but may not assign a liaison to a minor sport organization because the Parks and Leisure Services Commission has been formed to consider all of the needs of the sports community. Assigning Council Liaisons There is some rationale for considering the availability of various Council members when choosing which member should be assigned to which group. Those with more flexible schedules may be more available for liaison responsibilities than others. A Council member’s personal interests and expertise should also be considered in terms of making assignments along with their involvement in a particular subject (i.e. they may be involved with a group which is in the middle of an important initiative and, therefore, under these circumstances, a change in liaison may not be advisable). Another consideration may be the notion of broadening every Council member’s knowledge by rotating their responsibilities where that is felt to be beneficial. The benefit of such rotations to the groups with whom Council members liaise is that more members of Council become familiar with the organization and the issues it is an advocate for. Since there are many factors involved in determining such assignments it is not felt appropriate to prescribe a process or a maximum term for service as a Council liaison. The only guidance to be offered by this policy statement would be to suggest all of the above be considered along with the basic principle that Council members should share liaison responsibilities as equitably as possible. Purpose: The purpose of this policy is to clarify the roles and responsibilities of Council and Staff liaisons to independent organizations. It is also intended to provide guidance to those organizations to whom liaisons have been assigned in terms of their responsibilities and the reasonable expectations they should have of assigned liaisons. Definitions: “Liaison” refers to a position assigned to a Council or Staff member where the primary objective is to maintain good communication and relationships between an outside, independently constituted organization and the District of Maple Ridge. Page 3 of 6 Policy 3.10 Key Areas of Responsibility Action to Take Responsibilities of Organizations to whom Council and staff liaisons are assigned Such groups should: a. Ensure assigned Council members and staff members are provided with sufficient advance notice of meetings and agendas, given their busy schedules. Establishing a regular meeting schedule is helpful, however, sending agendas out in advance is equally important since it will assist the Council or staff member in determining if their attendance and input would be helpful to the group and to Council. Sending agendas out at least four days in advance for regularly scheduled meetings is a minimum standard. Significantly greater advance notice and agenda distribution is required for special meetings outside the regular meeting schedule. Occasionally, despite regularly scheduled meetings, Council members in particular must choose between meetings which have been scheduled and other important community events and meetings which come up from time to time. Having an agenda in advance is an important tool in helping a Council liaison to make that determination and to be effective in their role. b. Provide advance notice for the Council or staff member to address a particular topic of interest to the group at an upcoming meeting. While not always possible advance notice of a particular question can be very helpful in ensuring the liaison has time to complete an appropriate level of investigation or research if the question happens to be on a subject with which they are not familiar. c. Be appropriately constituted, be in good standing with the Registrar of Societies and function in accordance with the guidelines which typically govern well functioning Societies. Such guidelines include sending agendas out in advance, maintaining minutes, managing meetings in accordance with appropriate rules of order, holding regular elections, maintaining proper financial records, etc. d. Welcome Council and staff liaisons to attend every meeting they choose to attend (save and except for meetings which are exclusive to the Board members only which deal with personnel or legal matters and other confidential matters such as negotiations with the municipality). Responsibility Community Organization Chair or Representative Community Organization Chair or Representative Community Organization Chair or Representative Community Organization Chair or Representative Page 4 of 6 Policy 3.10 e. Respect a Council liaison’s time by moving those items which the liaison may need to address to as early a place in the agenda as possible and not expect the liaison to stay beyond dealing with that subject, unless the liaison chooses to stay (not to participate in the Board’s further discussions but to learn more about the organization and what is important to the Board to further the relationship). The staff liaison in particular may wish to stay in order to fulfill their responsibility of monitoring the group’s performance of contracted services. f. Appreciate a Council liaison should not be expected to attend every meeting of the organization. Of course a liaison should attend on a reasonably regular basis in order to fulfill the function as best as he or she can. However, attending every meeting is, in all probability, unrealistic given the number of liaison and committee responsibilities each Council member is assigned on top of their formal Council responsibilities. In addition, some Council members have career and professional responsibilities beyond their Council role. In some cases where it is felt that very regular representation from Council is required then an alternate may also be appointed. A staff liaison’s attendance will likely be more consistent given the limitation on the number of groups for whom they have a liaison responsibility. g. Not expect a liaison to participate in group discussions as if they are just another member of the Board of Directors. The organization should definitely not give the staff or Council liaison a vote. Doing so may put the Council liaison in a conflict position with respect to matters which come before Council having to do with the group. A Council member cannot vote at Council on matters related to another organization with whom they have a fiduciary responsibility (voting at a Board meeting constitutes acceptance of such responsibility) and must not participate in any debates on such matters at Council. In fact they are required to declare the conflict and leave the meeting room when such conflicts occur while the matter in question is being discussed by the other members of Council. Responsibilities of Council and Staff Liaisons Assigned Council and staff liaisons should: a. Attend as many of the organization’s meetings and functions as necessary to achieve the desired end result of good communications and a positive working relationship with the group. Recognizing regular monthly attendance may not be possible the Council liaison should discuss their intention to attend on whatever schedule makes sense with the group Community Organization Chair or Representative Community Organization Chair or Representative Community Organization Chair or Representative Council Liaison Council Alternate Liaison Staff Liaison Page 5 of 6 Policy 3.10 President at the outset of their assignment, to ensure clarity and avoid higher than can be delivered expectations. Having a staff liaison in attendance may provide a greater sense by Council members who are assigned liaison responsibility that the Municipality’s interests are being represented to some degree and may permit less frequent attendance by a Council liaison. If a staff and Council liaison have both been assigned to a group each should bring the other up to date on those matters of mutual interest to both the municipality and the organization which were discussed at a meeting their counterpart was unable to attend. b. Let the organization’s President or Secretary know when they are unable to attend a meeting at which they might otherwise be expected, and, if an alternate has been appointed, notify the alternate Council representative they will be unable to attend and determine if the alternate is available to cover the meeting. If they are available forwarding the agenda to the alternate is also required. c. Not vote and avoid participating in group debates as if they were a member of the organization’s Board of Directors. (see “g” above) d. Not make commitments on behalf of the Municipality which are not already covered by policy or a previously approved standard of service. Of course a Council liaison should be prepared to look into any request, passing that along to the appropriate senior staff member to investigate. The staff member’s obligation is to ensure the Council liaison is informed as to the outcome and response to the request. Council Committee and Commission Roles and Responsibilities (referenced here only to clarify the difference between liaison and committee roles and responsibilities) Council members will also be assigned to a variety of Municipally established committees and commissions whose role is to advance the Municipality’s mandate in their various areas of responsibility. The role of a member of Council on such committees is very different than that of liaison to an independent organization. To be more specific Council members who are assigned to such groups are expected to participate fully in the discussion and debate on subjects before such committees and are generally expected to vote along with the other appointed members of the committee or commission. All such groups are duly constituted by bylaws of the Municipality to carry out the Municipality’s business. In some cases they are advisory and in others they have been Council Liaison Council Alternate Liaison Staff Liaison Council Liaison Council Alternate Liaison Staff Liaison Council Liaison Council Alternate Liaison Staff Liaison Page 6 of 6 Policy 3.10 delegated the authority to act independently within parameters established by Council and allowed by the Community Charter and Local Government Act. In all cases the Council members assigned to these groups are expected to bring a Council perspective to the table. The legal opinions we have available to us indicate there is no conflict of interest for a Council member who participates in debates and discussions and votes on matters at a municipal committee or commission meeting and then considers and votes on a recommendation from the committee or commission at Council. This is because the committee or commission is a child of the Municipal Government and the business being conducted is therefore being carried out by the Municipality for the Municipality and not by an independently constituted organization. Role of Council members appointed by Council to legislatively constituted Boards involving organizations made up of several Municipalities collaborating on the delivery of services (referenced here only to clarify the difference between liaison and regional Board appointee responsibilities) Members of Council can be appointed by Council or by the Mayor to represent the Municipality on Boards of Directors of agencies which have been duly constituted to deliver services on behalf of several Municipalities acting together. Examples of this include the Fraser Valley Regional Library or the Metro Vancouver Regional District. In such cases the appointed member participates fully on the Board to which they have been appointed and are generally tasked with the obligation to vote as they personally feel is appropriate on matters that come before that Board. That is because it is assumed that, due to their involvement, the Council member sitting at the Board table has a greater appreciation for the broad responsibility of the Board than other Councilors not on the Board whose context is only the services provided locally. It is understood that a Council cannot compel a member representing the municipality on this type Board to vote in accordance with Council’s wishes expressed by a resolution of Council. With that said most of the Council members who serve as Board representatives to regional bodies do consult with the rest of Council to obtain their views before a particularly challenging subject is voted upon at a regional Board level. We are advised by the District’s legal advisors that despite the independence described above there is no conflict for a Council member who is appointed to sit on such a Board who then participates in debates and discussions at the Council table about the municipality’s continuing involvement in such a regional function or any other debate related to Council’s involvement with the regional body involved.