Lansdowne: ‘An Insult To The Intelligence Of Council’: BENN

What could possibly go wrong when one separates authority from responsibility?

Has anyone on council ever taken a organizational behaviour course? To be absolutely clear, while council can delegate authority, they cannot delegate responsibility.

Back to my question.

Councillors might want to refresh their memories on the competence of staff to handle even routine matters. Start with Orgaworld. Staff focused on annual capacity for a “product” that has significant seasonal variation. Orgaworld couldn’t handle the spring and autumn spikes, so the city had to dispose of the quantities over the daily capacity constraints at other facilities. Then had to top up the amounts paid to Orgaworld because the city didn’t deliver the minimum quantities. It wasn’t just the line staff who negotiated this fiasco who weren’t up to the task. It was the senior levels of management who failed to understand the most basic of business principles.

Next: Stage 2 Trillium Line. Staff recommended (perhaps in response to political interference) a proponent that failed the technical requirements twice, and refused to acknowledge that minor detail, hiding behind the ubiquitous confidentiality clause.

Next: Lansdowne 1.0. The waterfall. Say no more.

Next: Lansdowne 2.0. Staff recommended approval when it knew, or ought to have known, that when a major public accounting firm (E&Y) calls the financial projections optimistic it means fanciful.

Next: LRT Commission Report. The culture at city hall is one of willfully not disclosing information to council, thus precluding council from fulfilling its statutory duties.

And now staff is recommending that council not even bother to exercise its statutory duties? Seriously? The audacity to even ask for this delegation of authority is an insult to the intelligence of council. The only question is whether anyone on council will have the temerity to challenge staff, in a public setting.

Ron Benn, a finance executive, has been a member of the Centrepointe Community Association for the better part of three decades.

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