Red Deer County has endorsed what amounts to a manual on how the municipality is governed.
Work began with a consultant on an updated new governance model in 2022. The end product, unanimously approved by council on Tuesday, clarifies the roles and responsibility of council and staff while providing a guide to how decisions are made.
“By documenting this information we ensure that everyone working in our system has the same understanding of how the system works and our municipal government becomes more transparent to the public,” says a report to council from county legislative and information services manager Samantha Rodwell.
The biggest change is the introduction of a governance and priorities committee, which is meant to provide a forum for council to hash out “contentious or significant issues” before they land on council’s regular agenda.
The committee will provide a better alternative to the previous council workshops, where questions had been raised by councillors about how issues were added for council discussion.
Governance models are not required under the Municipal Government Act and the county staff are not aware of any others in Alberta, says the report.
“We are doing something that’s probably pretty leading edge,” said Mayor Jim Wood.
Much of the governance model was already county practise.
“It’s a matter of formalizing what we were doing,” he said.
The new committee will ensure that council gets the items on the table that need to be addressed ahead of decision making.
Coun. Christine Moore called the model a “blueprint for good governance.
“Good governance is the bedrock of everything we do. It’s going to set us up for success, but also those who come after us.”
Coun. Connie Huelsman said “this is about us working together and having a clear process.”
The model provides a detailed road map for running the county, such as outlining how many days it should take to respond to ratepayer inquiries.
“I think going forward this lays out in black and white and colour exactly what we want to see happen, how everything will flow and how everything will line up,” said Coun. Dana Depalme.