by Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
NNSL (Jan 24/97) -
There's room for improvement, but far less than there was in 1991.
A Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) evaluation recommends 17 ways city hall can improve itself -- half the number of recommendations in its last review.
The MACA report examines two years of city operation, 1994 and 1995. In a covering letter, the department commends the city for remedying most of the problems it identified in its 1991 evaluation of Yellowknife.
It also singles out the city clerk's office as a "model of municipal administration." The report notes the city's foray into the business of land development has been costly.
"There is a legitimate concern that the city's current additional carrying costs (for unsold lots) cannot be recovered through land sales, since the total cost of land for sale exceeds its market price."
MACA recommends assumptions made about land sales need to be revised, something the city did in this year's budget.
The budget predicts only $220,000 in lot sales this year. Two years ago it made $1,371,300 selling land.
Other recommendations in the report include:
The 1995 report skirts a number of contentious issues.
Weekly closed briefing meetings were deemed "not appropriate to discuss" because they are before the courts.
Neither does the report comment on the city's handling of the houseboat, Woodyard and Centre Square issues.
Though it doesn't deal with secret meetings, MACA does tell administration to clarify some of its policy manuals, in particular its policy regarding confidential documents.
"It gives no guidance on what type of material is to be considered confidential, does not explain or judges whether or not information is confidential, or provide any direction to employees on handling of confidential material," says the report.