CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Edmonton city staffer's abuse of power reported in audit, but city silent on detailsA city staffer was caught abusing the public bidding process for personal gain but the city is remaining tight-lipped on the scandal
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Edmonton City Council meeting, Monday Nov. 1, 2021.
Lauren Boothby
Edmonton Journal
Last year, the auditor’s office was tipped off about an employee who manipulated the procurement process to land their business a city contract. The auditor’s investigation found the allegations were true, according to the office’s 2021 report .
“The employee did not disclose to the city that they own a business, as required by the code of conduct. The employee obtained work for their business, due to their position with the city. The employee also violated the procurement directive by taking part in the procurement process that awarded the company a city contract,” states the report which will be discussed at a council committee meeting next Friday .
The staffer was given a non-compliance memo and the city held a follow-up meeting with the contractor and put some safeguards in place, the auditor said.
But the city is refusing to answer questions from Postmedia on details surrounding the scandal, including how much money changed hands, what the contract was for, names of the employee and their business, if the person still works for the city, and if any legal action was taken.
In an email, the city only stated safeguards to prevent abuse are in place such as a code of conduct for employees and suppliers.
“The city has procedures to ensure that conflicts of interest are declared and employees who may be in conflict recuse themselves from participating in the procurement process. All members of a procurement evaluation team are required to sign off that they do not have any potential conflicts, whether real or perceived,” spokeswoman Lori Yanish wrote in an email.
“As a result of this investigation, both the vendor and city administration have agreed to reinforce messaging about conflicts of interest and the codes of conduct regularly with employees.”
Edmonton police say there isn’t a criminal investigation into the matter.
Last year, the auditor’s office was tipped off about an employee who manipulated the procurement process to land their business a city contract. The auditor’s investigation found the allegations were true, according to the office’s 2021 report .
“The employee did not disclose to the city that they own a business, as required by the code of conduct. The employee obtained work for their business, due to their position with the city. The employee also violated the procurement directive by taking part in the procurement process that awarded the company a city contract,” states the report which will be discussed at a council committee meeting next Friday .
The staffer was given a non-compliance memo and the city held a follow-up meeting with the contractor and put some safeguards in place, the auditor said.
But the city is refusing to answer questions from Postmedia on details surrounding the scandal, including how much money changed hands, what the contract was for, names of the employee and their business, if the person still works for the city, and if any legal action was taken.
In an email, the city only stated safeguards to prevent abuse are in place such as a code of conduct for employees and suppliers.
“The city has procedures to ensure that conflicts of interest are declared and employees who may be in conflict recuse themselves from participating in the procurement process. All members of a procurement evaluation team are required to sign off that they do not have any potential conflicts, whether real or perceived,” spokeswoman Lori Yanish wrote in an email.
“As a result of this investigation, both the vendor and city administration have agreed to reinforce messaging about conflicts of interest and the codes of conduct regularly with employees.”
Edmonton police say there isn’t a criminal investigation into the matter.
An interview with the mayor was not granted Thursday, but in an email Amarjeet Sohi said safeguards are in place and council shouldn’t get involved.
“In this case, there was a complaint that led to an investigation, and changes have now been made,” he said. “It’s not appropriate for elected officials to get into the personnel matters of administration, and council’s discussions at audit committee will be important to review whether the processes are appropriate.”
Public deserves to know
But Andrew Sancton, a retired Western University political scientist who specializes in municipal governments, said this appears to be a “serious violation” that demands transparency.
“The public is entitled to know what happened to the person who was involved in this … and what kind of disciplinary action (was) taken,” he said. “If it is a small amount, that might be somewhat reassuring for the public … If it’s a large amount of money, that’s all the more reason why people should know about it.”
For its part, Sancton said it appears the city properly addressed the situation internally and, with its anonymous tip line and code of conduct policies, seems to have adequate safeguards in place. However, a lack of transparency in this situation could erode public confidence.
“Every time people learn that the procurement processes are potentially biased in some way, it makes them more likely to think that the whole process of municipal government and spending money is inefficient at least, and possibly, likely corrupt,” Sancton said. “It just encourages cynicism and disrespect.”
Contacted by Postmedia, integrity commissioner Jamie Pytel said her position only governs the conduct of elected officials.
Last year, the auditor also found one employee was napping on shift and spending too much time on the computer, another had a conflict of interest because his wife was reporting to him, and another was idling their vehicle for too long.
Another tipster reported a staffer was taking too many smoke breaks but the investigation found the number of breaks adequate.
lboothby@postmedia.com
@laurby
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