Larry O’Brien

Today City Councillors will see the first versions of the White Papers developed by City staff that will form the basis of the debate for our Mid-Term Governance Review in March and April. 

The information in the White Papers is a direct result of City staff interviewing all of the Councillors and collecting their ideas on how to make our decision-making process more accountable, predictable and effective. 

It is good to see my colleagues getting interested in making the kinds of changes required to improve City Hall. 

What is this debate about and how will it affect you?

City Council will have to answer some of the following questions as part of the upcoming Governance Review:

Do we need every decision from committee to rise to Council? Do we need to oversee finances year-round, empower City Councillors to develop a budget and create a new Finance and Audit Committee? How do we make committees more accountable in their field of responsibilities? How do we make Councillors more accountable on matters that impact their wards? Do we need more independent boards such as a Transit Commission and a Health Board?

What do you think?

A good start

The Clerk’s Office has done a great job in their White Papers summarizing ideas from City Councillors that range from procedural improvements to the restructuring of committees to creating a new Finance and Audit Committee that would oversee City finances and budgeting. 

Tomorrow the Mayor’s Taskforce on Governance, under the chairmanship of David Zussman, Jarislowsky Chair in Public Sector Management, of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa,  will release its report containing recommendations on how to bring more strategic thinking, accountability and operational effectiveness to City Hall.

In June 2008 I appointed this independent Taskforce (click here to see press release)with members from the academic and business community to review the current governance model at City Hall and identify ways to help Council become more accountable, strategic and focused on the long-term.

After two years on the job, I constantly hear from the public that they want to see more accountability at City Hall and I strongly believe that the status quo is simply not good enough anymore.

One of my main motivators in creating the Taskforce on Governance was my belief that the current budget process at the City of Ottawa is flawed. I believe we need to keep an eye on spending year-round with a new Finance and Audit Committee.

This will be one of the most important debates we have during this term of Council and with the Zussman Report and the City’s White Papers, Council has all the tools it needs to significantly improve the way we do business at City Hall now and after the next election.

We are starting the conversation and it is important that we consult with the residents of Ottawa on a go-forward basis to ensure we make changes that benefit the public.

I want to thank the members of the Taskforce for their dedication and hard work to identify ways to make the City of Ottawa more accountable.

What is the process?

The City’s Governance Review takes place in two stages. The first is a mid-term review between March and April 2009 and the second is a full review that will occur in conjunction with the next election in 2010.

Please let me know your thoughts on governance by commenting on my blog and make sure check back tomorrow to connect to an online discussion tool and see the Taskforce report in full.

Today I delivered my State of the City Address to Council. Please see below a copy of my speech. 

This morning I would like to provide Council with some thoughts relating to priorities for 2009.

We have just passed the halfway point of our mandate and I think it is important to put our priorities in the perspective of what we as a Council have accomplished in the last two years.

In the hectic blur of dealing with so many different issues, sometimes people forget all that we’ve accomplished together so I thought I would take a few moments to congratulate you on your many successes.

In the past two years we have improved on the following:

Tourism

You approved the funding for an amazing new Ottawa Congress Centre. The new OCC will be an incredible addition to the Capital. This was long overdue but you made it happen.

Environment

You have approved an organics waste diversion green bin program after years of failed starts. Again, this was long overdue. You made it happen.

Transportation

You have improved the mass transit plans for Ottawa. Ottawa now has a magnificent plan that will transform the City for decades to come. This was an emotional and difficult debate, but together we got it done. This new plan has significant public and almost unanimous Council support. Together we made it happen. 

Technology

You approved a multi-year technology enhancement program for the City that will see Paperless Council and many additional improvements by 2010. Again, a few years late but you got it done.

Budget

During the last two years you have improved the budget process in many other ways.

You started in 2007 by developing a fiscal framework through a facilitated planning process in our first summer. This year you introduced a budget challenge function that saved our taxpayers about $10 million from our baseline. We got there because most of you worked with staff to find savings at the start of the budget process.

I personally was not happy with the result of 2009 budget, but I was encouraged that we moved ahead with a more transparent and easier to understand process. We have now set the stage to improve even more in 2009 and 2010.

Infrastructure renewal

You approved a 2 per cent infrastructure levy in 2007 that helped us invest over $300 million in infrastructure in 2008.  This was an important and critical decision.

Education

City Council donated land to help build two new trades schools at Algonquin College and Cité Collégiale. This will ensure we train and keep the future of our workforce here in the Nation’s Capital. Good decision for the long term.

Ottawa River and environment

You also committed to investing  $100 million with the help of the federal and provincial government in to repairing the sewer systems in Ottawa so that we will reduce all accidental spills and 65 per cent of the planned spills into the Ottawa River. This was the right decision for our future.

Transformation

You have also approved the de-layering of and re-organization of City Hall that will result in reducing staff levels, the elimination of management silos, and better operational control of city operations. This is the most significant management change at City Hall since amalgamation. You have given management the okay to restructure and that took courage.

Public safety

You have worked with the Police Services Board to approve a budget in 2007 that resulted in officers back on the beat and a new squad focusing on street crimes. As a result the City feels safer and is safer. Congratulations!

And we did this along with conducting the regular business of Council and all that it entails. This Council has done an amazing amount of high-quality work. People forget all that we’ve accomplished together. Well done to all of you.

We have come a long way, but there is still much important work to be done. 

After public safety and security of our water, electricity, police, fire and paramedics, the next priority for a municipality is the prosperity of its residents. The single most important economic tool we have is our public transit system.  

Transit

Now that the strike is over, we are working hard to get all our buses back on the road and grow our ridership levels. Our next priority is achieving funding for our new public transit plan.
 
Already our staff is working with the provincial and federal governments to reach a common understanding of the technical aspects of our plan. 

Once that is complete we will invite the federal and provincial government to become fair funding partners and become part of our shared vision for the City of Ottawa transit plan.

As a Council we will also explore and debate the various alternate funding models that may accelerate the implementation of the entire plan. City Manager Kent Kirkpatrick has made it a priority of his own.

We as a Council will have important policy debates around these issues as we proceed in the best interests of the taxpayers.

Spending infrastructure stimulus money

The next priority we have will be to maximize opportunities provided by federal and provincial government stimulus funding.

Next week we will be producing a list of shovel-ready infrastructure projects and this Friday I am meeting with industry representatives to ensure we are ready to meet the challenge of spending this money effectively by the spring and in the best interests of the Citizens of Ottawa.

Lansdowne Park

Another priority is the renewal of Lansdowne Park.  

Lansdowne Park is the largest and most significant City owned property. I know all of us agree it has the potential to be the most important meeting place in our City. It should be the jewel of Ottawa.

It is time to bring Council together on this city building project and work out a process to establish the principles for this property development, reach a conclusion and move forward.  

During this debate we will also look at two competing proposals to bring new important sporting assets to Ottawa.

High quality contributors are presenting MLS Soccer and CFL Football to Ottawa and we owe it to our citizens to make a thoughtful choice of which proposal to support and what is in the best interest of the taxpayer.

Accountability and governance

We have committed to reviewing our governance process in 2009…how will Council decide to structure itself to make decisions in the future.

I believe this is an important long-term improvement that we should make in the coming year.

Our citizens have made it clear – they want our governance process to improve. 

My Task Force on Governance is set to release their report in the coming weeks.

City staff will also be circulating a series of discussion papers to help facilitate our deliberations.

These white papers are a direct result of consultations and interviews they have had with each member of Council.

Finance committee

According to staff, Council has made many valuable suggestions on how to improve our decision making process.
My belief is that we also need to include in this debate the potential of altering our committee structure to create a standing committee on finance.

I hope we can reach an agreement on creating this committee to keep an eye on spending year round and give this committee the tools and the human resources to build and recommend a budget to Council instead of leaving the heavy lifting to city staff.

The budget process is one of our most important responsibilities.

The budget is far too important not to have the checks and balances of the budget process going on all year long.

In closing I want to congratulate you again for the work you have accomplished in the past two years. 

It has been rocky at times but that is the nature of transformation.  

We are past the halfway mark in our 1,000 days of transformation and we are doing well.

Thank you and lets start the meeting.

Please see below a press release I distributed this afternoon.

For immediate release:

Tuesday February 9, 2009

Improved Ottawa Option to bring greater competition and better results

OTTAWA - Improvements to the “Ottawa Option” procurement policy being proposed by staff will make it easier for the City to leverage the skills of the business community and could help save residents money in the process, Mayor Larry O’Brien said today.

“The Ottawa Option invites businesses to proactively approach the City with ideas that save money and deliver better results instead of waiting for City Council or staff to act,” said Mayor O’Brien. “It is an attempt to encourage businesses with good ideas to work with the City in a way that benefits both the business and residents.”

The Ottawa Option is a Council-approved policy that allows businesses to approach the City with unsolicited proposals. Last year, Staff were asked to review the policy, including an analysis of any weaknesses, as well as options to determine how to make it easier for businesses to bring cost-saving and innovative proposals forward.

Among the recommended changes are;

- Unsolicited proposals need to result in an improved outcome or reduced cost for the City.
- Council must approve the application of the policy for all instances where the value is estimated to exceed $500,000.
- Clear explanation of the steps involved in considering proposals and who needs to make the decisions.
- When the unsolicited proposal deals with a current or planned procurement process, it will not qualify as an Ottawa Option proposal. However, it can be leveraged by the City outside of the Ottawa Option policy, and;
- Final procurement phase will use the “best and final offer” process.

“The process has improved significantly to ensure there’s greater competition and better results. Under the revised policy City staff would evaluate the unsolicited proposal; if it meets the criteria then it goes to Committee and Council for direction,” said Mayor O’Brien. “When Council makes its decision the City will then encourage other competitors to submit superior counter proposals. Finally, the best value proposal wins.”

The full report will be circulated to members of Council today, available on Ottawa.ca tomorrow and will rise to Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee on February 17th.

Last Thursday I had the chance to see a staff presentation on the underground section of our new transit system.

The public will have the opportunity to see staff’s work on December 16, 2008. It is a good presentation and I am convinced once the citizens of Ottawa see what can be done downtown, they will be as excited as I am about our new downtown transit network. I am very grateful for the work done by Council and I am pleased about the future prospects we share for transit in Ottawa.

A special thanks to City staff who provided superb assistance through long hours at Committee and Council. The overwhelming vote of 22-2 in favour was evidence of the effort and transparency of 18 months of hard work. The City of Ottawa thanks you.

I look forward to working with our funding partners and the business community to secure higher levels of funding to begin construction as soon as possible.

But now on to budget

Tomorrow the budget process starts and things have changed since I was elected in 2006.

When I was first elected I was convinced there were efficiencies to be gained by changing the culture of City Hall. I still believe that. As a businessman I believed it was time to change the way we did business. The argument resonated with many and I was elected to bring a fiscally prudent budget process to City Hall.

But quite frankly the biggest obstacle to having the ability to make sound choices on budget was clear and useful information. This kind of information was not easy to drag out of the thousand page budget document that was a blizzard of data that overwhelmed anyone trying to find out what was spent where and when.

This year the City Manager hired Bob Plamondon to help prepare a new, business-like budget template to improve the process for Council and the public.

And this afternoon I watched a few Council partners see the importance of having clear and accurate information on which to base important decisions.

I shared the options I have developed for the 2009 budget with some of my Council colleagues and I was able to present these with the City’s bottom line in mind. That scenario lead to some buy-in from my colleagues.

How? Now in a relatively clear way we can discern the difference between the “nice to have” service enhancements and what is mandatory to ensure the quality of life we want to enjoy in Ottawa. And at no time since amalgamation is it so important to have this clarity with the global economic uncertainty we are facing as a nation and as a city. My distaste of waste has been replaced by the moral imperative to ensure the safety and security of our citizens at a time when pensioners are losing their savings and people are delaying vacations or not buying that new car.

The first responsibility of any level of government is the security and safety of its citizens. That priority takes precedence over any other activity at the federal, provincial or municipal level. I believe we must ensure that every available penny remains in the hands of our citizens. It is morally irresponsible to do anything but make the tough choices today that will result in a budget that is in the interests of our taxpayers and in line with the fiscal framework that was approved by Council unanimously in 2007 (Please click here to view the fiscal framework). We need to make the necessary cuts and reductions this year to pave the way for a sustainable budget.

As the budget process unfolds I will be working with my Council colleagues and City staff to resist the urge to spend money and to curtail unnecessary spending.