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National Post - May 29, Thursday, 2008 - page A 16 - By Diana Mehta.
Gadfly has Mississauga mulling options
Hire Ombudsman?
In Mississauga, Donald Barber lost the last mayoral election to Hazel McCallion, above, but is now making complaints.
Mississauga city hall is struggling to figure out what to do about a series of complaints from local gadfly Donald Barber, who came a distant second to Hazel McCallion in the last mayoral election and has become a constant thorn in city council's side.
Mr. Barber has made complaints against city staff since the November, 2006, election, ranging from claims of bias on the part of the city solicitor to complaints a city security guard hoped to entice a fight with him. He has told the city manager he will only reveal details, and new complaints, when the city develops an efficient way to deal with his issues.
According to Mr. Barber, he is not the only dissatisfied Mississauga resident tiring of how the city handles formal complaints. A well-known face to those at council--he was once arrested for protesting a policy change on public participation (he spent a night in jail, but all charges were withdrawn) -- he said he will not rest until his concerns have been appropriately dealt with.
During a council debate last week, most councillors agreed some kind of process was needed to deal with such complaints. The city manager, Janice Baker, told council it would cost more than $50,000 to hire an independent investigator to address Mr. Barber's complaints. A permanent ombudsman would cost at least double that to set up, according to experts.
"I think we should look at the [complaints] process," Ms. McCallion said. "An ombudsman might be the way to go at the end of the day."
Council decided to ask staff for a report with recommendations on a formal complaints policy before it made any decisions.
Mr. Barber-- who came second to Ms. McCallion with 5% of the vote in the 2006 election -- said he's not convinced any city review will address his concerns, and is contemplating going to the provincial ombudsman.
He said the Mayor will pick a solution that suits her. "Right now there's a bit of a cult around Hazel," he said.
City spokeswoman Catherine Monast said formal complaints from citizens have previously been resolved at staff level or with a report to council. Outside investigators have been used on rare occasions, she added. "We've never been criticized for handling of complaints in the past," she said.
Ward 8 Councillor Katie Mahoney said all complaints in her ward have been successfully dealt with through her staff and herself.
"I guess Mr. Barber has some issues and some concerns, but he's the only one in my memory that has formalized any of his complaints," she said. "We don't seem to have a flood of these issues coming forward so we have to at all times balance the value of an ombudsman or complaints procedure.''
Bob Young, a municipal expert and professor at the University of Western Ontario, said a city ombudsman is left with a limited field of complaints not addressed with by councillors or the Ontario Municipal Board.
"The question is, are you going to have an independent bureaucratic agency to take up citizen's complaints about non-planning matters? I wouldn't set it up for one person. One the other hand, you'll never know the demand unless you set one up," Mr. Young said.
With the hefty cost of setting up an ombudsman's office, a one-time investigator could be the solution to dealing with rare cases like Mr. Barber's, he said.
Municipal governance expert George Cuff, however, said a city ombudsman would be a "win-win situation" for residents and the city.
"People are intimidated by the size of the structure,'' said Mr. Cuff, a consultant and past president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities who has authored a guide for municipal politicians. ''I think having somebody as the public friendly face is far easier for someone to voice their concerns."
At present, under the Municipal Act there is no obligation or requirement for the city to investigate Mr. Barber's complaints at all. The act authorizes municipalities to appoint ombudsmen. All provinces, as well as the cities of Toronto and Montreal, have an ombudsman to deal with conflicts from a third-party stance.
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