Richard Froese
South Peace News

Big Lakes County council has endorsed a covenant to build a relationship with its chief administrative officer.

At its regular meeting June 22, council approved a recommendation by CAO Bill Kostiw to approve the covenant.

“I don’t have any problems with it,” Reeve Ken Matthews says.

Council asked the CAO to present a draft covenant months ago.

“That’s your duty when you’re elected,” High Prairie East, Banana Belt Councillor Don Charrois said in supporting the document.

Protocol for council is laid out in the covenant.

“Obviously one of the keys to an effective organization is clarity and trust in the relationship between council and the CAO,” says Kostiw, who has served the county since February 2014. His contract was recently extended by council to December 2017.
“One of the ways by which we believe it might be made appropriately clear is through establishing a council-CAO covenant, which commits both parties to seek clarity in the relationship and to seriously undertake to conduct their respective roles appropriately. ”

The covenant proposes the followoing:

We, as members of council, will:
– Carry out our responsibilities as set out in the applicable legislation to the best of our abilities.
– Make decisions which we believe to be in the best interest of our citizens.
– Review the background information and advice made available to us by administration prior to rendering a decision.
– Seek further information and advice when we are unsure of the issues or uncertain about the preferred course of action.
– Refer any complaint, either written or verbal, about the decisions of council on the actions of administration, to the CAO for review . . .
– Refrain from making any commitments on behalf of council to individual citizens or groups other than to take the request up with the council or CAO and to respond appropriately.
– Seek to participate actively in the decision-making process.
– Refrain from any public or private criticism of our administration . . .
– Act as good stewards of the county and as public servants of our citizens . . .
– Provide effective leadership through . . . annual or long-term goals and priorities, through the budget approval process and by agreeing to reasonable policies . . .
– Ensure that we formally evaluate the performance of the CAO . . . and involve the CAO in this process . . .