For the time being the City of Airdrie will remain in the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP), after council voted 4-3 to retain membership at its May 19 meeting.
The CRP is a partnership between 12 municipalities who work together on projects that benefit the region. Airdrie has been a member since 1999. A representative from each member municipality sits on the board, with Mayor Peter Brown representing Airdrie. Other members of council and administration, including City Manager Paul Schulz, sit on a variety of CRP committees.
At its Dec. 1, 2014 meeting, council voted to send the CRP a letter outlining concerns they have with the organization and asking they be addressed before a specific date. Some of those concerns included a lack of tangible outcomes on projects and initiatives, a lack of accountability by the board in addition to a lack of clarity, mandate, direction and authority for CRP committees.
The letter was sent to the CRP on Dec. 12, 2014. Subsequently, members of City council were invited to meet with CRP administration on March 15.
“We had a lengthy discussion on many of the issues,” Schulz said, “Some of the highlights from that meeting were a move to increase chief administrative officer (CAO) involvement in terms of CRP strategic and business planning. I think through that was also (a move) to get greater staff involvement because it was felt that had been lacking in some of the communities.
“If those things are aligned, you can advance on initiatives in a more tangible and valuable way,” he added. “There was dialogue on CRP governance structure and some clarity provided around alternates.”
According to Schulz, communication with the CRP was also discussed with some recommendations moving forward.
“It’s a two-way street. We need to put our requests out to them more formally and potentially they could certainly come and support us on our regional issues,” he said. “They certainly can do a better job of communicating with our council some of the work they’re doing.”
Alderman Candice Kolson said she has seen some improvement, at least on one of the committees on which she sits.
“I think I see some change happening slowly with some committee members being a little more vocal. Currently, I sit on the Transportation Committee and the Economic Development Committee. I can tell you that there is a lot of value from the Transportation Committee. Whether or not we agree with their stance on regional transportation, the ball is rolling and it’s of value to Airdrie to sit on that committee.
“I think at this point it’s very important to remain in the CRP and make sure we’re attending as many of the meetings as possible so that our voice is heard around the table,” she added. “I’m not confident at this point that it’s always being heard but it’s important to be there and at this point I would not support leaving the CRP.”
Mayor Brown said he would prefer to delay the decision about leaving or staying in the CRP.
“If you read the answers to our questions (sent in the Dec. 12, 2014 letter), they really didn’t answer them,” Brown said. “Until I get clarity, I’m not willing to support continuing our membership because I want to know exactly what the organization is and they haven’t answered the questions to the extent I would see as a fitting response.
“(The CRP is) not very effective at what we’re supposed to be doing at the moment and I’d like to see some clarity and some of the answers,” he said.
Alderman Fred Burley made the motion to remain in the CRP, indicating a decision to pull out of the partnership could still be made in the future.
“If things don’t improve, we can still give our notice before Nov. 30. I think sending a message of retaining (our membership) is greater than sending a message of tabling,” he said. “My motion is going to be to retain our membership while trying to get our questions addressed.”
If Airdrie were to decide in the future to leave the CRP, the notice period for leaving, according to the CRP’s Termination of Membership rule, is four months prior to the CRP’s next fiscal year, which begins on April 1 of each year.
Brown and Aldermen Kelly Hegg and Allan Hunter voted against the motion.
