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Writer's pictureIan McCormack

Role Clarity is Critical: Setting Council and Administration up for Success

In most of Canada, fall means election season for local governments. Over the course of each four-year cycle, almost all Canadians can head to the polls to vote for the people they want to represent them on their local councils. The people who get elected aren’t usually professional politicians; they are people who want the best for their communities and often people who have never held elected office before.


Unless these new councillors are pointed in the right direction and given a thorough orientation about the role of governance boards, there can be significant confusion about what the role of a council member entails. When my colleagues and I provide initial orientations or mid-term refreshers, role clarity is one of the two most significant topics that we speak to.


If councillors are not absolutely clear on their role as governors, or if they choose to ignore that clarity, it typically sets up ongoing conflict between administrators and elected officials. Almost always, the lack of clarity is about the difference between governance and working boards, wherein some elected officials want to be involved in the ‘doing’ rather than the ‘thinking’ part of municipal service provision.


These people got elected by saying they’d end homelessness, clean up unsightly premises, get the roads better maintained, and improve crime prevention. None of these things are actually in the politician’s job description. As we all know, the elected official’s role is to create, evaluate, modify, and rescind bylaws and policies. Their job is to create the rules and then pass those rules along to administrators to carry out.


Getting new councillors, or the ones who obstinately cling to the notion they are the watchdogs, on the side of pure governance can be very difficult and moving in that direction requires focused tact.


This process can be helped in several ways:

  • Nomination material and workshops for council candidates clearly explain the difference between working boards and policy boards, and is explicit that councils are policy boards.

  • Council orientations put a major focus on role clarity, with examples of what happens when roles get confused or ignored.

  • Councillors are urged to challenge each other when they see colleagues straying into a management, administrative, or service delivery mode.

  • When council members refuse to stick to governance, the code of conduct is there to be used, first informally, and then formally if need be.

  • CAOs are empowered to respectfully challenge elected officials when roles become mixed up.

  • Regular or mid-term governance refreshers focus on role clarity, and any other topics that are relevant based on the council’s experience through the term so far.

As with all rules, there are exceptions. There is a caveat to role clarity because the public cannot be expected to know how focused governance is supposed to work. Citizens and others are going to call their councillor, or speak to them on the street, or in the grocery store. They’ll ask about potholes or swimming lesson times. These are operational items rather than governance items, so they don’t properly belong in the councillor’s bailiwick.

It's council member’s job in these cases to communicate the topics to the CAO so they can be dealt with appropriately. Often, the councillor will want to be kept abreast of these actions so they can follow up with the initial questioner. This can close the loop.

There are other times where the governors become the doers, like when they are flipping burgers at the rodeo, or riding on a parade float and handing out candy. This isn’t pure governance, but it is necessary as a way for elected officials to be seen to be doing their jobs as community leaders.


Unless each part of the governance machine is running smoothly, it becomes very difficult to create a well-functioning local government. One of the most effective ways for this machine to run is for governors and administrators to understand each other’s roles and to stay away from crossing into the wrong lane.


For anyone who doesn’t know, my first book was all about role clarity. The title Who’s Driving the Grader and Other Governance Questions illustrates what this topic is really all about.


What types of stories about the presence or lack of role clarity have you encountered during your time working with local governments or other governance boards?

As always, you can reach me atian@strategicsteps.ca

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