High level of mistrust among Vaughan city employees, internal survey reveals

Thornhill councillor believes fellow elected officials part of the problem

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 10, 2015
By Adam Martin-Robbins

There’s a high level of mistrust at Vaughan city hall and a lot of city employees fear reprisal if they raise concerns, results of an internal survey reveal.

And at least one councillor thinks his fellow elected officials are a big part of the problem.

Thornhill Councillor Alan Shefman said Tuesday, although huge strides have been made since he was first elected in 2004, there continues to be a lack of trust stemming from councillors whose offices have become “a receptacle for innuendo, rumour or ‘I don’t like this, so I’m coming to you.’”

“Whether it’s an issue of dislike of who you report to or you’re reporting something you don’t like around the organization, we need to utilize the (complaint) structures that we built, as opposed to our offices,” said Shefman, who did not single out any of his colleagues. “Our job here is not as a complaints mechanism for employees, it’s to ensure that the administration is managing their job and doing their job and we’re providing our governance role, which is at the highest level of decision making. Until we get that right, until we stop living off rumours, I think we’re always going to have a trust problem.”

Shefman’s comments came following a report by Paul Wallis, Vaughan’s director of internal audit, to the city’s Finance, Administration and Audit Committee.

Wallis had just presented councillors with results of a survey carried out in June aimed at gauging staff’s familiarity with and feelings about the city’s Anonymous Reporting System, created in 2014 so employees can raise issues and concerns without having to identify themselves.

The survey revealed, among other things, that of the 361 employees who responded 56 per cent, or 203 staffers, said they would not use the reporting system or would hesitate to use it “if they suspected questionable activity.”

Of those 203 staffers, 60 per cent, or 121 staffers, said they didn’t believe their report would remain anonymous or confidential while 45 per cent, or 91 staffers, said they  “do not believe any positive change would result from speaking up.”

Conversely, 74 per cent of those who responded, or 268 staffers, said that the system is beneficial to the city.

In his report, Wallis concluded:

“Despite the recognition of its value, there remain a large number of employees who would be reluctant to use the Anonymous Reporting System to report suspected fraudulent or unethical activity because they feel that their anonymity may be compromised or their report will not be kept confidential,” he wrote.

“This is consistent with the results of the 2015 Governance and Accountability Survey, in which fewer than 50 per cent of respondents agreed with the statement that ‘prompt communication of mistakes, bad news, and other related information is given to those who need to know without fear of reprisal.’”

That set off alarm bells for Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua, who asked whether the source of that fear is members of council, senior city staff or both.

Wallis said while some survey respondents identified specific individuals, he can’t say “definitively” if it is members of council, management or, in the case of those working in unionized positions, fellow employees.

And, he said, there’s no quick fix to these problems rather it will have to evolve as employees see action being taken to address their concerns.

That’s when Shefman jumped in and said, “there’s no question in my mind” council is responsible, at least for the lack of trust.

“Don’t misunderstand me, we are just decades ahead of where we were when I first became a councillor here,” he said. “But we still have a long way to go and, I think, it’s up to every one of us around this table (to address it).”

Shefman said issues or concerns raised by city employees should be dealt with through existing “complaints mechanisms” such as the integrity commissioner’s office or the anonymous reporting system.

He noted that nobody has come to him with complaints because “I expect every employee to be able to have somebody in the organization they can go to, to address the issues they may have concerns of.”

ROSATI DISAGREES

Regional Councillor Gino Rosati, a longtime municipal politician, strongly disagreed with Shefman’s assessment.

“I have to dispute comments made by my colleague suggesting that it is at this level,” he said. “Maybe there’s some of it, I’m not saying there isn’t, but to dump it all on this council, I think, is presumptuous, at best, and, indeed, totally unfounded.”

Rosati also said ”it’s not uncommon” to see these sorts of statistics in government and large organizations in the private sector. But, he acknowledged, it’s incumbent on councillors to show leadership on these issues.

City manager Steve Kanellakos noted that senior city staff is embarking on a “refreshed” corporate strategy that features six priority areas one of which is the “whole issue of governance, accountability and trust.”