Chestermere Councillor Stephen Hanley directed administration to begin providing council members with full access to financial information.
“I believe some of my other council members have concerns,” Hanley said.
“We face challenges getting information, and one of the big concerns right now is the financial information and the budget for next year.”
Hanley requested administration to provide fully inquiry access to financial reporting to all members of council, to ensure they have all the necessary information, make appropriate analyses, and prepare proper questions for administration, before making a financial decision that would impact the community.
“We can’t change anything; all we can do is look. This would allow us to get in and look at the numbers and provide us access that the managers have in departments,” Hanley said. “We don’t want to overburden administration. It’s my opinion that information remains the city’s information until it’s discussed in a public meeting, it’s internal to the organization.”
Councillor Shannon Dean is interested in having a workshop session for councillors to learn how they can better share, access, and utilize information.
He believes having a database that stores information that all city administration and councillors can use would be beneficial for the organization.
“We are just starting a records management program, and have a consultant on board,” legislative administrator Rami Ajjour said. “We’re about 10 years behind on other municipalities in terms of records.”
