Portage council adopts new transparency policy
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The City of Portage la Prairie council has unanimously adopted a new policy that sets clear budgets and guidelines for council members attending professional development conferences and meetings.
The “Council Conference Professional Development and Meetings Policy” was approved at the Dec. 8 council meeting, marking the first formal policy of its kind for the city.
Coun. Joe Masi, the finance chair, said the goal is to improve transparency and provide a clear framework for professional development spending.
“We had no policy [previously], but we also want to be very open and transparent with the public of what conferences do we go to, how much money do we spend at those, what does it cost,” Masi said.
Under the new guidelines, each council member will be allocated a budget to attend:
The two annual conferences hosted by the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) (spring and fall).
One additional conference related to their specific portfolio, such as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) convention or another specialized conference.
Masi stressed that councillors will be responsible for managing their individual budgets and cannot attend additional events if funds are not available.
The policy also allocates a separate budget for the mayor to attend lobbying or representational events on the city’s behalf, such as trips to the provincial legislature or Ottawa.
“The big issue is it’s really clear and transparent now what we attend and the monies associated with it,” Masi said. “But I want to re-emphasize this is really important that council has professional development.”
A key element of the new policy requires councillors to deliver a report back to council after attending an event.
“We all learn as council members and certainly whether it’s part of your portfolio or just to go to the provincial or federal associations, I think it really benefits the council and the city of Portage.”
The specific dollar amounts allocated for conference travel will be made public during the upcoming budget process.
» Portage Graphic