Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 2, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba A4 local exclusive report audit continued from Page a1 several councillors applauded the audits conclusions and said it merely confirmed their belief that certain politicians had circumvented due process in property the Winnipeg chamber of com Merce said it was disappointed City councillors had Learned nothing from previous studies that warned about the perils of political interference in the running of civic theres got to be a St Fang and unqualified total commitment to make change around Here in the Way we do business and to clearly separate and distinguish the roles of politicians As legislators and Mur Ray the audit criticized the Way the City conducts property deals and it faulted both bureaucrats and their political but the behaviour of some Council lors on the property and development committee in 1998 and 1999 the study time Frame was singled out As a major obstacle to conducting land transactions in an fair and consistent the 160page 18 months in the said councillors had taken Over direct negotiations in some undermined the civil service and Cre ated the impression that politicians Are the Deal makers at City the document suggested that Well intentioned political ineptitude May have Cost the City millions of dollars in a single leasing the Best system in the world will not be effective when individuals circumvent prescribed roles or cd not act in accordance with written or unwritten codes of business the report it recommended ethics guidelines for politicians be tightened to include penalties for breaches of the audit report will be tabled at executive policy committee june but Murray distributed it to Council lors yesterday following an exclusive report revealing its details in the free auditor Shannon Hunt said her report shows a need for a fundamental change in the Way we manage Busi Ness in the City to protect the Public interest and ensure we get fair mar Ket value for our Hunt said she say More until the report is the mayor said he would consult with Premier Gary doer and inter governmental affairs Fuji infer Jean Friesen to determine the municipal conflict of interest which governs the conduct of Council furious Steek challenges audit report offers to quit Council if it can be shown he directly negotiated controversial Deal by David Obrien off i boy wimp i Feltt press theres got to be a Strong and unqualified total commitment to make change around Here Murray he said he May ask the province to give the City the Power to write its own but even if the province refused to Murray said he would enact a local bylaw to slap controls on the conflict guidelines require councillors to disclose potential conflicts when conducting City but Are silent on issues raised in the the City is already working on a new code of ethics for its for a Long Murray there have been concerns that the City was it getting value for its Dollar in property and he blamed that in part on councillors acting As real estate agents and doing end runs around experts in the cites property and land services councillors dont have the professional experience to be involved in those kinds of things because their judgment in determining property values just int Murray i think the auditor hit the Nail on the head about what the problem he were not property appraise were not experts in things Uke net present no one on Council i know has that kind of expertise and even if they its not their the audit also criticized civil ser vants for failing to write Clear and Complete reports for the and delays in responding to development proposals had Cost the City it Peter be appointed by Murray to Lead the property commit tee last said he was committed to restoring Confidence in the i have no problem understanding my said de i believe in listening to the advice of the administration and evaluating their propos the audit found that not Only did councillors on past committees ignore professional they even ordered administrators to slant their reports to reflect a political in one two bureaucrats refused to sign a report because they didst agree with its the audit Jenny a member of the property committee since novem said the reports findings we rent i think it confirms what a lot of peo ple thought was going Gerbasi Mark Lubosch said allegations that the process was being Circum vented have been around since i started Here in Lubosch said some councillors believe they Are the directors of a corporation the City int a Corpora its a Public and Harry Lazarenko added that the abuse goes even further Back in theres been too Many councillors around Here for a Long time who think they can do a better Job than the Garth Steek said yesterday he has no apologies or regrets for the Way he behaved As a member and chairman the property and development com and he offered to resign from Council if he was shown to have directly negotiated a leasing Deal that was singled out for stinging criticism in an auditors if i was personally involved in negotiating this ill Steek furious with an audit that he said was poorly he said he will demand that the audit report be tabled at a Council seminar so he can Challenge its accuracy and and i want City auditor Shannon Hunt there to answer my Steek Hunt said yesterday she wont comment on the details of her analysis until it is made Public june Steek was a member of the property and development committee when a lease was negotiated in 1998 to move City workers into the confederation life building at 457 main he was chairman of the committee last year when another property Deal was negotiated that the audit also said raised serious the report said members of the prop erty committee toured the confederation life building and expressed an opinion on its adequacy prior to the Start of formal conversations were held with the lessor in the absence of the the audit said the committee directed the administration to negotiate a lease with the buildings Sandy Shindle who reportedly pitched the idea directly to the Steek insisted he was never involved in any direct negotiations Over the lease and he said it Only made sense for councillors to inspect the Shindleman confirmed the Deal was handled by the administration and noted that All of not just the commit was invited to see the the auditor said the City made a mis take by leasing a building for 15 years at a Cost of saying the City failed to consider other but Steek and Shindleman insisted it was the Best Deal the City could get at the the report said administrators had concerns about the but the committee directed them to write a report recommending Steek said he was unaware of such a Mike Shaugh chairman of the com Mittee at the was out of town Steek also defended his conduct in another Deal that was criticized by the the report said the property commit tee Cost the City time and Good Faith when it tried to pit one property owner against another last when Steek was the City wanted to buy the mandarin next door to City but it pretended to be interested in another building at the same hoping the Price of the mandarin would come the trick didst but it frustrated administrators who were kept in the dark about the tactic and raised questions As to whether the City was bar gaining in Good Steek denied telling the auditors he want serious about the second build i would never say something was just a he real site deals also a headache for other cities by Tracy to Ladin an auditors report cites process for handling is riddled with political Sloppy policies and favouritism is turning Heads in municipal real estate depart ments across while some officials such bungling would never occur in tit air others say it is naive to to pfc Winnipeg is the Only City with a bad reputation in real estate i think throughout you probably run into those same kinds of issues the report is said Lynne chief administrator for sales and leasing for the City of from time to time we have those Craig reluctant to go into details on specific problems the City but said they were similar to what the Winnipeg audit headed up by City auditor Shannon Hunt and a team of five the 18month review found political inter Ference in City land deals has Cost Winnipeg taxpayers millions of Craig said that in Calgary All land deals must go through two committees and then get Council administration tries to offer land Sale through Public but she said there Are no firm policies which require certainly there is political interference from time to maybe in other but not Edmon said the cites broker and land sales coordinator certainly Polit but a whole in negotiating land said Bill generally in Edmonton most councillors know the danger of Covey also said All deals Are listed publicly on the open if you dont do that we could get charged with favouritism said who read the free press cover age of the audit on he said All land under million in Edmonton Are handled by City staff speeding up transactions and avoiding the of reports staff have to 1 it helps us become More responsive to the he years ago where two City Adams orators reserved lots in a new Cit owned Regina has had some of the most stringent rules regarding land deals in the in Regina its almost impossible for anyone to have any influence Over land said manager of the cites real estate theres never any All land whether the City is sell ing or must be either circulated to All local developers or go through a Public tendering he its primarily to take away any ques to address the said All municipal governments should put in place strict rules governing real estate As part of the real estate manage ment review in the audit department surveyed 10 cities across Canada and the Manitoba government in of those that nine cities and the province said they have leasing and several also have administrative nine cities said Council is responsible for approving leases of private sector property to their six respondents said they have clearly defined processes for leasing proper wit five of them using open or tendered can you see my problem ;