The city of St. Albert will not have a repeat of a councillor being hired as city administrator, as happened in the case of former councillor Gilles Prefontaine, now that council has approved a new hiring policy.
St. Albert mayors and city councillors can no longer apply for a job with the city while serving on council, nor for one year after leaving office. Councillors voted on the new hiring policy brought forward by Coun. Sheena Hughes on Monday.
Hughes made the motion after the controversial hiring of Prefontaine as the city’s new chief community development officer in May. Prefontaine applied for the job while still on city council. He left his council position when he was hired.
Hughes said the public expects councillors to serve a full term and make decisions that place the interest of the city and its residents above their own. But in light of recent events “it became clear that the current code of conduct is not sufficient,” she said.
“People have requested that we take steps to close any loopholes,” she said.
While debating the motion, councillors were also looking for answers on the hiring decision from city manager Patrick Draper. Draper, who is responsible for the hiring of city staff, said he decided to employ Prefontaine after an extensive interview process that attracted several candidates.
While Draper said he thinks Prefontaine “will be tremendous in his new role,” councillors questioned why Draper changed the title of the job, and why he looked for someone with a business degree instead of bringing in another engineer or planner.
The job profile asked for five or more years as a senior executive in the public government or private sector, plus an undergraduate degree in business, engineering or planning, with a masters preferred.
Draper said he decided to change the title to chief community development officer to better reflect the duties and responsibilities of the position. The decision to look for someone with a business degree was made because it is one of the broadest degrees available and those educated in business understand the “totality of running a business or an operation.”
“We had many examples within the city of St. Albert of people who were hired, who did not necessarily come from a particular area of expertise,” he said. “They know how to manage people and how to manage the process.”
Councillors also asked whether he sought legal advice about a potential conflict of interest. Draper said he did not but he used an executive search firm to interview candidates, though he was present during the final interview. Asked if the mayor knew about the new position, Draper said the hiring of staff was his responsibility and he did not discuss this with the mayor.
Mayor Nolan Crouse later said that he voted against the motion in support of the city manager. He said the vote forced a choice between conflicting principles, one of protecting staff, the other a need for policy. In this case, he needed “to defend and protect the city manager.”
While the rest of council voted in favour of the motion, Coun. Tim Osborne said his support of the motion is not a reflection of his belief in Prefontaine’s ability to do his job.
“I have full confidence that Mr. Prefontaine will excel in his role,” he said. “ I would hope that everyone on council wishes nothing but the best for Mr. Prefontaine.”
Coun. Cam MacKay said he was not sure having a former councillor fill the development officer position would benefit the community. But he said the motion would “remove some of the embarrassment created by this decision” and make an example of good governance.
Council also voted down a change to the motion as proposed by Coun. Wes Brodhead. He had asked councillors to reconsider the one-year clause in the case that a councillor may want to work for the city in a minor position after leaving council, such as a yoga instructor at Servus Place. He was not sure a “cooling-off period” would have to apply in that case and proposed council get to vote on these decisions instead.
Hughes said this change would only create another loophole.
“The reality is this is a yes or a no, not a yes, maybe, but kind of we want to sort of pretend this is not happening,” she said. “You don’t go work for the city when you are a city councillor. Your job is to work for the residents.”
