Light on the Subject

The Town's Procurement Policy is entitled Administration Policy No. 50. It was adopted on June 11, 1997 and revised on March 25,2003. There are thirty pages but it ends on page twenty-nine. That's just one of those little mysteries that happen occasionally.

The stuff relevant to the question of whether staff improperly authorized spending of $438,000 is on page 17 - Section 4 - Clause C., under the heading Emergency Procurement; You'll have to scroll down to it as the Town's website doesn't let me link directly to that section.

C. EMERGENCY PROCUREMENT
Notwithstanding the provisions of this policy, the following shall only apply in case of an emergency, when an event occurs that is determined by a Department Head or the CAO to be:

• a threat to public health
• the maintenance of essential Town services
• the welfare of persons or of public property or
• the security of the Town's interests and the occurrence requires the immediate delivery of goods or services and time does not permit for competitive bids

The above criteria are to be applied on the basis of:
(i) Procurement under $50,000:
Wherever feasible, the Purchasing Co-ordinator, upon the recommendation of the Department Head, shall secure by the most open market procedure at the lowest obtainable price, any goods and services required.
A purchase order shall be issued.

(ii) Procurement Over $50,000:
The Department Head shall obtain the prior approval of the CAO.
An information report shall be submitted to Council explaining the actions taken and the reason(s) therefore.
A purchase order shall be issued.


As can be seen from the Memorandum of May 14th, 2007 (posted in the Blog), Mayor and Council did receive a report outlining the circumstances. Three days later it went to the Leisure Services Committee and was then adopted at the second Council Meeting in May 2007. From the various factors noted in the memorandum, the matter was urgent. Immediate attention was required. Tenders were called, bids received and the contract issued by the architects who were the acknowledged responsible party.

There's more. Page 20 of the procurement policy has a section that relates to Reporting:

2. Council approval is required where the:

• value of the goods and services is over $50,000, or
• purchase is for vehicles or heavy equipment, or
• purchasing policy is being waived, or
• acquisition exceeds the approved capital budget amount by more than 10%, or
• lowest responsive vendor submission is not being recommended, or
• there was no provision in the budget for the item, or
• CAO requests that a report be presented for Council consideration and approval
  

Based on the above criteria, a purchase order shall be issued and/or contract executed by the Mayor and Clerk in accordance to the reporting guidelines in this policy.

The expenditure did not exceed funds available in the capital budget. Funds were available. Responsibility had been acknowledged by the architects.

In light of the various factors, clearly the CAO did have authority to make the decision. The merits of the decision is established by the fact it was made by a management team of the CAO, Director of Finance and Director of Leisure Services.

Council was informed. Tenders were called and properly awarded. A purchasing order was issued. Good and services received by the town were to the value expended. At no time was the town's interest at risk.

I had been back on council four months after a considerable absence when the procurement policy was revised. It was thoroughly discussed. After years of involvement in a particular field, one acquires a sense of the rightness of things.

People sufficiently interested to read and comment need accurate information supported by documentation to make a judgement - particularly when written statements to the contrary to the facts are made and distributed by an official who certainly knows better.

In my judgement, something shameful and grossly unjust has happened at the hands of Aurora Council. Substantial public resources for legal services were expended to accomplish a cruel objective. It happened on my watch. I was not able to stop it. What I do here will not reverse it or correct it. Still a person must try.