Moose Jaw city council is directing administration to report on red tape reduction measures twice per year, following a motion passed at a recent council meeting.
Coun. Patrick Boyle put forward two motions for council’s consideration:
“That a red tape reduction strategy be developed and a committee be established comprising relevant city staff members as necessary.”
“That administration report to city council twice a year on the reduction of red tape achieved, including but not limited to improvements in issuing permits, approvals, wait times and process enhancements that result in financial savings and/or better service for residents and businesses.”
While council unanimously supported the reporting requirement, the motion to develop a red tape strategy and strike a committee was defeated.
Boyle said he brought the motions forward to help the city cut through bureaucracy and streamline services for residents.
“We issue upwards of 40 to 50 permits and approvals at one time, depending on the area, depending on what you're looking at. How do we — or can we — look at those differently for our municipal government?” Boyle said.
He added that having city administration report back to council would increase transparency with the public.
“This should not add a major burden on administration overall. These are probably things we're already doing, and this is just putting it in a more purposeful way and then reporting on it — and showing our residents those things,” he said.
Coun. Chris Warren agreed, saying it would be an opportunity for the city to recognize the work of its staff.
“We don't often celebrate the successes in the community that we see in city administration with our city staff. So I think it would be a good opportunity to share those successes,” Warren said.
However, Boyle’s proposal to establish a red tape committee received less support.
Councillors Warren and Heather Eby said they liked the idea in theory, but were concerned about the additional workload it could place on administration.
“The concept is good. That work would be great, but I just don't know if I'm prepared to move it to that side of the room at this point without a little bit of a report coming back to us first,” Eby said.
Eby moved to amend the motion by referring it to administration for a report. However, only Eby and Warren supported the amendment, and it was defeated.
Coun. Dawn Luhning also raised concerns about the potential costs of technology needed to reduce red tape and the impact on administrative time.
“Whenever we have these types of initiatives come forward, we need to know how we're going to pay for these things, how much administration time is going to go into it, and what time is going to be taken away from administration that might be other priorities,” Luhning said.
Further concerns were raised about the vagueness of the term “relevant city staff members” and who that would include.
Clearly frustrated, Boyle exclaimed, “Committee is a word no one likes around here,” and attempted to amend the motion by removing the word “committee.” However, City Clerk Tracy Wittke ruled that doing so would change the intent of the motion, and the amendment was not allowed — adding to Boyle’s frustration.
“Leave it alone then. I disagree completely, but call to question,” Boyle said, signalling to Mayor James Murdock to call the vote.
The motion was defeated, with Boyle, Murdock and Coun. Carla Delaurier voting in favour.