City hall’s administrative review officer received one complaint from a resident last year, the first time that position has had to investigate an accusation in five years.
Saundra Arberry submitted her 2023 annual report for city council’s Jan. 29 regular meeting. In it, she explained that she received one complaint from a citizen concerned about council’s voting process with the first and second readings of three specific bylaws on Feb. 13.
Those bylaws dealt with the joint-use school project, while there was confusion then about how the mayor voted — or didn’t vote — during the readings since it didn’t look as if he raised his hand while tallying results. Council later re-voted on — and approved — all three bylaws on Feb. 27, while the mayor apologized for how he had handled the situation.
“As I did then, and reiterate here, I wish to commend city administration and Mayor (Clive) Tolley for demonstrating leadership in this matter and resolving the process in question prior to conclusion of my investigation,” Arberry wrote. “The complainant was informed, and no further action was requested.”
As per the administrative review officer bylaw, the ARO must prepare and submit to council in each calendar year a report on the business of the Moose Jaw ARO for the preceding year, showing the number and general nature of complaints received, along with the disposition of those complaints, the council report said.
“The city seeks to provide exceptional customer service and spends considerable time and effort to resolve all complaints,” the document stated.
The report showed that the ARO received zero complaints from 2019 to 2022. The last time there were complaints was in 2018 when there were two issues: one by a resident and another by the city.
Coun. Kim Robinson wondered what type of matters the ARO handled because, based on all the calls he receives, he thought one complaint in 2023 was oddly low.
City manager Maryse Carmichael replied that most complaints relate to procedural matters during council meetings. Meanwhile, if residents have complaints, they should contact her office and she can forward the concerns to the ARO.
The city manager’s office number is 306-694-4427 and her email is [email protected].
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Feb. 12.
