a4 Wednesday, September 2, 1992 @ @ The City followed Victoria lawyer Murray Rankin's instructions to the letter, but the president of the Coalition Unaccepting Rash Bureaucracy says that’s not good enough Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER The unveiling of Castle- gar’s efficiency report is not being met with entirely open arms. The president of the Coali- tion Unaccepting Rash Bu- reaucracy doesn’t think high- ly of what was released from the Price Waterhouse report. Mike O’Connor wants to see more of the study than what was made available to the public. The two-year old report cited, among other things, poor management at city hall and a low staff morale. “We already knew that,” O’Connor said. “We didn’t need Price Waterhouse to tell us that. “I think they should have given us an overview of the administration people there, and speak more to the capa- bilities of councillors and se- nior management.” Although council has said no one was fired as a direct result of the report, O’Connor suys he can name five people who have been dismissed since the study. The city handed the CURB not satisfied, more info sought $24,000 report over to Victo- ria lawyer Murray Rankin. He was instructed to pick through the study and deter- mine what could and could not be made public. Rankin was a key advisor to the province for its new Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Al- though the act is designed to govern provincial ministries and Crown corporations, he used the act as a guideline for city council’s report — a first for B.C. “It’s been an interesting and innovative process,” Rankin said. “I’m pleased to be involved with it.” The city had passed Rankin’s report on to its own lawyers for further scrutiny, stating they wanted to avoid any liability from releasing the study. Rankin says council's deci- sion to hand the report to its own solicitors doesn’t under- mine any confidence the city had in his abilities. “I have no problem with it at all,” Rankin said. Council agreed to be bound by Rankin’s recom- mendations, and the city stated Monday that the re- port it has made public is the exact same one they received from i Rankin says any com- ments he has to make about his report are included in the final document. “The report speaks for it- self.” Rankin says, “so, voila! What you see is what you get.” e DIDD Annual General Meeting 1986 NISSAN PULSAR Castlegar and District Community 1 973-77 D. ATSUN 710's Thurs., Sept. 17 1973-77 DATSUN 610's caheatieer<<—~ uaaal 1978 DATSUN 510 4-Door at 7:00 P.M. PUBLIC IS WELCOME = = A e = = OUR ACTION AD PHONE ‘ ‘ a NUMBER IS 365-7266 O a er SENIORS’ ADVISORY COUNCIL > ‘ ¢-¢ % Participate in a forum on seniors’ issues. Hear briefs from local seniors’ organizations and individuals about issues of concern to seniors. Thursday, September 10 ¢ 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm Fireside Banquet Room, Fireside Motor Inn 1810 - 8th Avenue North, Castlegar Providing A Voice For Seniors % p, TOGETHER WE CARE MINSTRY OF HEALTH AND MINISTRY RESPONSIBLE FOR SENIORS FREE ADMISSION BACK-TO-SCHOOL | SAVINGS SUPPLY LISTS FILLED FOR LESS!!! Are you planning to retire or have retired, and have a RRSP? Castlegar Savings Credit Union can assist you with a Registered Retirement Income Fund. CASTLEGAR SAVINGS CREDIT UNION "Your Community Financial Centre” (aes = 601-18th St. 3026 Hwy. 6 Castlegar C5 Slocan Park 365-3368 226-7216 Castlegar Junior Rebels TRAINING CAMP September 14-25 Registration: 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14 at the Complex First Ice Time 8:30 p.m. ¢ Ice Cost: $30 L_ EVERYONE WELCOME! BIC PENS | 69 A COMO ouesececcsesesescsssceceececsessenensencneneeserseneseneeraeees EXERCISE BOOKS $4 29 Interlines 4s...... BRIEF COVERS 4 Pack NOTE TOTE 1 VIVID ..ncsceccocesecepesescecsssessssoosssserersnccscenscscecsessassncsesersonconeneqeceneseseset? ID PAPER $499 Oe: |: a1 1 TYPING 99 | MATH SETS $499 PAPER 1505 .....-.-..-:00-:0000 +4 4 KIDDIES $ 499 BACK PACKS ............ Many More wuatts ‘In’ Store = Specials! | Competitive Prices A | id i J a a e = OO @ Wédnesday, September 2, 1992 > -* Report Continued from page 1 the zero-to-10-scale, Smech- er said, “we never put.a lot of weight on page 18.” Council disagreed with some of the low ratings the re- port gave them. Coun. Mari- lyn Mathieson says the grade for honesty simply “wasn’t a big concern.” Council said changes were made to city operations as a result of the study, but they were reluctant to say whether it cost anyone their job. Asked ifthe study prompt- ed staff cuts, Mathieson replied, “No, not really.” “We've made adjustments,” acting mayor Lawrence Cher- noff said. “Some people have gone but I don’t think (the study) was a direct result.” Mayor Audrey Moore also took some lumps. The Price Waterhouse study indicated “the mayor re- quires that mail addressed to her and/or council not be opened by city staff.” As a result, the report stat- ed “managers feel that this practice implies they can’t be trusted.” Council members said a number of these practices have since been curtailed. “You make it sound like there was a conspiracy of si- lence,” Smecher said. “There wasn't.” “T still can’t see that this process was necessary,” Math- ieson said. “But we have all these claims about segrecy ' that, well, really was a crock.” ARROW LAKE ELEVATION 1409.00 ft. on Aug. 29 Forecast of _ Elevation 1410.30 ft. on Sept. 4 Yer Pree: egy SAWS SHARPENED (INCLUDING CARBIDE) ALSO DRILLS, PLANER BLADES, CHAINSAWS, AND MOWER BLADES. Saw Chains and Bandsaws made to order. FRANK'S SHARPENING SERVICE 1216-1st Street, Castlegar (Behind Castle Theatre) 20 Years of Quality Service & Parts! 365-7395 3 lems: 1) LACK OF PLANNING ° Crisis management * No community plan 1990 report breaks problems into five areas In a one-page summary of the findings of their 1990 re- | port, Price Waterhouse identified five key problems in the City of Castlegar's management structure. Two or more | symptoms helped the consultants identify each of the prob- : *-No public works plan * City infrastructure deteriorating 2) POOR INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS e ¢ No reporting on future issues and needs = 65-5304 - Back to Biden v/ Only $3.49 2816 Columbia Ave. Why rent?... WITH 5% DOWN AND EASY MONTHLY PAYMENTS YOU CAN OWN YOUR OWN HOME! We have a good selection of new and used mobile homes. Pads available in family and adult parks. BELAIRE MOBILE HOMES 4375 Columbia Ave., Castlegar - 365-8077 WE "SELL, BUY OR TRADE" School Special 2 Piece Chicken Snack Includes 2 Pieces of golden delicious Chicken. Your choice of fries, JoJo's or Freshly made salads. GOLF TOURNAMENT & ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Sunday, Sept. 20th Best Ball Scramble 4 Person Teams e Prizes © 18 Holes e Steak B-B-Q Dinner e Installation of Officers =) ° No priorization of problems ¢ No key item reporting ¢ No project status reports 3) POOR MANAGEMENT * Too busy to respond to Council requests * Backlog of engineering work * No plans to correct problems ° Little systemization of work Silent Auction e Fly-in Fishing Trip for 4 Registration Prize Draw Courtesy of Highland Helicopters $40/person — Chamber Members — Includes spouse & Deadline for Registration: Sept. 11, 1992 at Chamber Office ¢ Poor staff morale 4) INSUFFICIENT STAFF * Out-of-date bylaws * Missing job descriptions * Gaps in accountability for key responsibilities (risk | management, financial forecasting) ¢ Backlog of important work 5) WEAK LEGISLATIVE STRUCTURE ¢ Weak enforcement capabilities * Slow response to public complaints RCMP building plans up for public review Plans for a new RCMP building in Castlegar include consideration of the struc- ture’s compatibility with city hall, council heard Tuesday. The neighboring buildings must complement each other, building committee chairman Kirk Duff said in his report. Details about the new de- tachment will be available at a ~ public meeting on Thursday, September 17 at the recre- ation complex. Design, cost, debt repay- ment and the impact on tax- payers will all be reviewed at the public meeting. In addition to local RCMP , the architect and the police force property management team from.Vancouver will also be in attendance. employees $50/person — Non Chamber members $20/person — Golf not included 1.C.G. Propane Cohoe Insurance Sandman Inn C.1.B.C. Castlegar Savings Credit Union B.C. Tel Bank of Montreal Highland Helicopters West's Dept. Store SunRype B.C. Gas Labatt's Pharmasave Calona Wines Investors Group Mistaya Country Inn Red Mountain ADVERTISING COURTESY OF THE CASTLEGAR NEWS Serving the City of Castlegar, Areas | and J. (R.D.C.K) 1995-6th Ave., Castlegar, B.C. +» 365-6313 PRIZES DONATED BY THE FOLLOWING BUSINESSES: NRS Realty - Barry Brown Shaw Cable Kay O'Flaherty Xerox Kootenay Savings Credit Union Celgar Air B.C. Taylor's Place Restaurant Rita Morrison Time Air CASTLEGAR & DISTRICT Chamber of Commerce prave. o¥% INFOCENTRES