February 19, 1998

To: Special Committee to Review the Toronto Transition Team Report

From: Chief Administrative Officer

Subject: Selected Issues Respecting Agencies, Boards, and Commissions

Purpose:

To recommend the next steps in dealing with selected issues respecting Agencies, Boards, and Commissions.

Financial Implications:

There are no financial implications.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1) Council dissolve the Board of Management of the Guild and notice be given for the introduction of the necessary by-law;

(2) the term of citizen appointments to agencies, boards, and commissions be for the term of the Council which appoints them unless otherwise specified by legislation;

(3) recommendation 87 in the Toronto Transition Team Report be referred to the Board of Directors of the Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts for consideration within the context of developing and implementing the Centre's Business Plan, and that the appointment of citizen members be deferred until such time as the board reports further on this issue through the appropriate Standing Committee;

(4) recommendation 90 in the Toronto Transition Team Report be considered within the context of the potential integration of Ontario Place and Exhibition Place and that citizen appointments be deferred until this issue is resolved;

(5) the City Clerk be authorized to begin the process of citizen appointments to the following boards when there are sufficient numbers of appointments to be made to warrant the cost of advertising:

(6) the appropriate staff be authorized to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.

Background:

At its last meeting on February 13, 1998, the Special Committee received a report detailing the outstanding issues respecting agencies, boards, and commissions. This report addresses selected issues from that list to clear some items from the agenda of the Special Committee.

Discussion:

(1) The Board of Management of the Guild

The Council of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto reviewed the need for the Board of Management of the Guild in 1996 and determined that the Board should be dissolved. The primary reason was that a 14-member governing board was not appropriate given that the budget was $200 thousand and there were only two staff members at the time and now only one. Metro Council requested that legislation be enacted to dissolve the Board which had been established by the Metro Act. Since that time, the property has been managed internally by the Parks and Culture Department and the Board of Management has agreed not to hold board meetings.

The Board of Management of the Guild was continued in the Bill 148. Continuation of the Board requires that a separate annual audit be conducted and an annual statement prepared. This is an unnecessary cost to the municipality. Provincial Regulation 214/96 enables Council to dissolve the Board by by-law. It is recommended that the Board of Management of the Guild be dissolved and notice be given for the introduction of the necessary by-law.

(2) Term for Citizen Appointments

The citizen appointment process usually takes as long as five months to complete and requires commitment of substantial financial and staff resources. In addition, citizens appointed for the first time to boards may experience a substantive learning curve to familiarize themselves with the specific issues, understand government expectations and process, and become comfortable in the role. Most boards meet monthly. As a matter of practicality, citizen appointees should serve for the full term of Council unless legislation dictates another course of action. All citizens serve at the pleasure of Council and can be replaced as the situation may warrant so there is no need to provide a shortened appointment term. In accordance with part three of Recommendation 70 of the Toronto Transition Team Report, it is recommended that the term of citizen appointments to agencies, boards, and commissions be for the term of the Council which appoints them unless otherwise specified by legislation.

(3) Hummingbird Centre and Exhibition Place

For some local boards, the process of restructuring was initiated independently of the City amalgamation process due to changes in strategies emerging during the normal course of business. These processes should be continued within the context in which they were begun. These include the business planning process for the Hummingbird Centre and the possible integration of Exhibition Place with Ontario Place.

The Toronto Transition Team's recommendation 87 recommends a specific structure for the Board of the Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts which is essentially the structure recommended within the preliminary business plan for the Centre. The business planning process is continuing and the structure of the Board needs to be considered along with the business direction within the normal course of business. Recommendation 90 recommends that Council proceed with the integration of Ontario Place and Exhibition Place. Again, a process is already in place to deal with this issue through a Joint Interim Board and any future action should be taken within that process.

It is recommended that Transition Team Report recommendations 87 and 90 with respect to these boards be considered within the context of the processes in progress. Since in both cases, the legislation permits the existing citizen appointees to continue until their successors are appointed, it is further recommended that the citizens currently serving on these boards continue until these issues are resolved in order to maintain continuity of the boards during the transitional periods.

(4) Additional Citizen Appointments

There are no specific outstanding issues on the following board structures and the Clerk should be authorized to proceed with the citizen appointments process. The appointments process requires that specific qualifications be articulated by the organization for which appointments are to be made.

$ North York Performing Arts Centre (8 citizens)

$ St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts (12 citizens)

$ Toronto Economic Development Corporation (8 citizens)

During this first term of the new Council, many decisions must be made which may impact the composition of boards and the number of citizen appointments. These decisions may be spread out over the next 3 years. Advertising for citizen appointments is very expensive due to the size of the ads and the processes for selection. The Clerk should be given discretion in determining the timing of such advertisements to permit simultaneous advertising for several boards at one time in order to minimize costs. It is recommended that the City Clerk be authorized to begin the process of citizen appointments to the above boards when there are sufficient numbers of appointments to be made to warrant the cost of advertising.

Conclusions:

This report recommends some specific actions to deal with selected Toronto Transition Team recommendations respecting agencies, boards, and commissions. These actions will clear these recommendations from the agenda of the Special Committee.

Michael R. Garrett

Chief Administrative Officer