An inspector who spent months gathering data from Longview residents to investigate the village’s operations for a provincial review will soon submit her findings to Municipal Affairs. Information was collected from select village residents by an inspector employed by Alberta Municipal Affairs last spring. Details of the report, which must be submitted on or before Sept. 10, won’t be released until the Minister decides how to proceed. “It is important to Minister (Shaye) Anderson to ensure that municipalities are able to provide strong and sustainable local governance to their residents,” said Lauren Arscott, press secretary for the Minister of Municipal Affairs. “That’s why we’re working with the Village of Longview through this process after receiving a petition from residents.” The inspection was implemented following a preliminary review of Longview, conducted by Municipal Affairs last year, to identify and better understand the concerns and issues that led to approximately 100 residents signing a petition seeking a provincial review in 2016. The review consisted of interviews with council, municipal staff and petitioners to identify areas of concern. In November 2016, Longview council fired its chief administrative officer, Vicky McGonigle, a move that prompted a group of residents to organize a public meeting to encourage people to sign a petition calling for Municipal Affairs to conduct an operational review of the Village. One hundred residents, representing almost half of Longview’s voting population, signed the petition, which was submitted to Municipal Affairs on Dec. 5, 2016. Among their concerns was that Longview has had nine vacancies for the CAO position since 2005, the public wasn’t getting the information it wanted from the Village, meeting minutes were sparse and that meetings were held without the public being informed. The decision to conduct an inspection, looking into matters connected with the Village’s management, administration and operations, was made by Municipal Affairs in late 2017. A letter from Municipal Affairs stated that “sufficient concerns remain that justify an in-depth review.” In March, the province appointed Shari-Anne Doolaege of Sage Analytics Inc. to conduct the inspection. The inspector, who may make recommendations to the Minister, operates independent of the Province. Once the Minister receives the report, he will review the findings and follow up to obtain any additional information he needs before determining what actions, if any, are required, said Arscott. “Section 574 of the MGA provides that the Minister may, by order, direct the council, the chief administrative officer or a designated officer of the municipality to take any action that the Minister considers proper in the circumstances,” she said. “This will occur if the Minister finds the municipality is managed in an irregular, improper or improvident manner.” Dale Harrison, Longview’s existing CAO, said he provided what help he could during the review process and it’s now just a waiting game. “I responded to emails from the inspector during my holidays in July,” he said. “She would ask a question about a specific thing and we will give an answer and carry on. The inspector gathers all the information, writes the report and submits it to the minister of municipal affairs to review.” Harrison said he expects the minister to review the report for a few weeks before making recommendations of how to proceed.” It will be presented at a public meeting and will be available online at municipalaffairs.alberta.ca/1526.cfm. The date of the meeting has not been set.
