External review of city hall operations shot down

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: April 27, 2010 7:00 PM

Activities at Vernon city hall will come under scrutiny but not the broad review one official wanted. Council defeated Coun. Bob Spiers bid for an external core service review Monday, but it has decided to launch a process to look internally within the next month. “It’s important that we review our services on a regular basis but that doesn’t mean we have to hire someone from outside,” said Coun. Mary-Jo O’Keefe. Spiers says a core review would have ensured that all vital services, such as infrastructure and police, are delivered in an efficient manner and are financially sustainable. “It will provide an evaluation of all other non-core but essential and valued services and make recommendations on how and whether they are sustainable in the future,” he said. “It may provide different methods of delivering services at a lower cost, and may lead us to new revenue sources so we continue to provide both core and non-core but essential services.” Spiers believes that without a core review, property taxes will have to climb to cover city activities. He did support the move towards an internal review. “Hopefully we’ll find a way to make the system sustainable. We have to decide what our priorities are in terms of services,” he said.

Coun. Jack Gilroy was firmly opposed to an external review. “The staff of our city do a tremendous job and we should support them,” he said, adding he’s not sure if the issue surfaced here because of a core review in Penticton. “We can’t compare ourselves to Penticton because they’re in huge financial trouble. We’re not in that situation in Vernon.”

Coun. Shawn Lee says he voted against a core review because he is still familiarizing himself with city operations. “I’ve been on council a year-and-a-half and a core review is a major thing. It would have to be entered into with more knowledge,” he said.

Mayor Wayne Lippert believers Spiers’ proposal could have sent the wrong message. “I’m all for service reviews but you need to determine what you want out of it. A core service review usually sends out a signal of cut and slash,” he said.

Spiers denies that was his goal. “This is not an attempt to lay people off,” he said. “There are great services we could deliver in a different manner. Maybe there are services we should not do.” The push for an internal review came from Coun. Patrick Nicol.“We should find a way to move ahead with some of the goals (presented by Spiers),” said Nicol.