Administrative Review Officer 2019 Annual Report Shows No Complaints Filed
There is an old saying - it is a case of “no news is good news” and the same can be said about a recent report to Council.
At Monday evening’s regular meeting of Council the 2019 annual report was submitted for the Administrative Review Officer. The Administrative Report Officer is the independent Council appointee who investigates complaints which cannot be resolved between the City and the public.
“We are glad to report there were zero reports referred last year. That in essence generally follows along the lines of what we experienced with the program and certainly we want to resolve issues and complaints that come forward to Administration. And when we can’t we’ll suggest we can refer it to the Administrative Review Officer for clients that conclude we have not been able to complete a proper decision,” city manager Jim Puffalt said.
“We did do that in 2018 with cast iron (water main replacement)…we really did not know where to go so we thought an independent view on that was a good step forward…we don’t profess to be perfect in our decision making process.”
Puffalt said there was one complaint in 2019 Administration said they could submit to the Administrative Review Offier but it was turned down.
In 2018 seven homeowners received higher than expected bills for service connections to their homes as part of Phase One of cast iron water main replacement. Service connections are the lines (sewer and water in this case) running from the main lines and service the property.
SEE RELATED - Phase One Residents Seek Fairness 2018 Administrative Review Officers Report
"The stats prove we work very hard to resolve complaints and when we can’t we will rely on the Admin Review Officer to give us a hand,” Puffalt said.
Under Bylaw No. 5200 which sets out the Administrative Review Officer’s role and responsibilities there is an obligation to submit an annual report to Council.
The Administrative Review Officer is not the final avenue of appeal against the City as complaints may still be taken to the Office of the Provincial Ombudsman and the courts if desired.
Council voted unanimously to receive and file the report without any comments or questions.