I have received a Letter from Minister Linda Jeffery confirming the Province will take no action on a petition from the GrassRoots Guelph group requesting an audit of the City’s finances. The Province has confirmed there is no cause for concern. I am not surprised, as the City’s performance and reputation are strong. We will continue to lead […]

The Overtime Audit finally landed at Council’s Audit Committee yesterday. The intensity of the comments, since it entered the public realm, is reflective of the transformation our new internal audit practice is leading – in my opinion not just for our local government but others. Our Internal Auditor confirmed she received the full co-operation of all […]

Open Government is about changing government to serve as a platform – a platform for solutions, a platform for people to help themselves, help each other and to build community. We have been building the foundations of this platform for many years – changing the way we do business as a local government in incremental […]

As we finalized the 2011 budget, it was clear that we needed a change in both process and format. A cross-department team was charged with this task and have delivered on the challenge they were given. The material that Council has received this year includes performance measures and trend analysis for all departmental areas. Also […]

I appreciate that understanding municipal finance is challenging.  As much as we try to draw analogies to everyday life, the reality is that it is just not that simple.  That does not mean that a layperson cannot understand municipal finance.  Realistically though, it does require an investment of time that many are not prepared, or […]

Not unlike the shareholder of a company, taxpayers want to know two key things about how the money is used:  There has been no fraud or misappropriation of funds Quality of decision making (has it delivered results) Taxpayers elect members of Council to ensure that management is accountable for the funding that is entrusted to […]

Service Status  Results Website (guelph.ca) Complete Increased productivity, faster and more efficient analysis of the website traffic, reduced development and support costs, improved security and usability and opportunities for system integration Neighbourhood Support Coalition & Neighbourhood Groups Complete Increased autonomy of Neighbourhood Groups, greater opportunities for fundraising, more effective use of existing resources Park Infrastructure […]

The new Service Review approach brings more rigour to the continuous improvement program from the last term which brought significant fiscal, operational, corporate and community benefits. An example would be the savings of approximately $400,000/year from the implementation of Energy Conservation measures in City facilities for 2009/10. This table provide a little more detail of the work […]

I have blogged about our new Service Review process earlier.  The City delivers approximately 300 services and the goal is for Council and the Executive Team to consider every service once a term (4 years) as to whether a service or operational review should be conducted.  A Service Review asks: Should we deliver the service? At what level […]

One of the recommendations the Governance Committee is making to Guelph City Council out of its meeting today is to move forward to establish an Internal Auditor at the City of Guelph.   The Committee is recommending that this new position be brought forward for Council’s consideration during the 2012 budget. An Internal Auditor will have […]