.jpg;w=630)
As of May of this year, there were 16 outstanding complaints still to be investigated by the city's whistleblower hotline, according to a recent report presented by Auditor General Ron Foster.
Foster's office took oversight of the hotline when it was introduced in June of last year. His office assesses complaints as they come in, and refers them to outside investigators if they are considered serious.
The intention of the hotline is to allow residents and city staff to report issues they believe to be illegal, dishonest, wasteful or deliberate violations of city policy.
But Foster wrote that a high volume of calls they have received is due to confusion over the purpose of line.
“Many of the complaints received can be addressed under the city’s 311 service or processes for staffing issues,” Foster wrote. “To address this observation, the auditor general and general manager of corporate services will co-ordinate a communications effort to clarify the purpose and scope of the hotline on the wrongdoing website page and to update the script for the telephone hotline.”
Just 12 per cent of the complaints – or 19 of 156 calls -- required any investigation, a ratio that's typical for municipalities that have recently implemented hotlines.
Not including startup costs or staff time required to investigate complaints, the hotline cost taxpayers $25,000, as well as $23,137 paid to outside contractors hired to review more sensitive complaints.
“A number of complaints have been filed regarding the conduct of an individual member of (city) council,” the report said. “Systemic or serious complaints about members of council should be contracted out for investigation. The auditor general’s reserve can be used to fund these investigations.”
Between June 2016 and May 2017, 89 complaints were flagged for further investigation. Of those, 32 were dismissed because no evidence was found to verify them. Another 14 were resolved with action planned or already taken.
Of the open complaints still to be investigated, three are about individual city councillors, 15 about the way the city does business and 17 about members of city staff.
While many complaints were about things like city workers using their cellphones or buses being late, others were more serious. One involved a physical confrontation between two city employees, a few involved rude behaviour by staff on a job site, building-code infractions, issues with snow-plow drivers, poor quality of construction work and allegations of harassment.
