To:Administration Committee

From:Chief Administrative Officer

Subject:Alternate For the Commissioner of Corporate Services to Approve Certain Delegated Real Property Matters

Purpose:

To seek authority for the appointment of an alternate to the Commissioner of Corporate Services to exercise delegated authority over certain real property matters.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

None.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1)for the purpose of exercising the authority, as same may be amended from time to time, delegated to the Commissioner of Corporate Services by Clause No. 1 of Report No. 11 of the Corporate Services Committee adopted as amended on July 29, 30, 31, 1998, authority be granted to the Executive Director of Facilities and Real Estate; and

(2)the appropriate City officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect to the foregoing.

Council Reference/Background/History:

By its adoption, as amended, of Clause No. 1 of Report No. 11 of the Corporate Services Committee at its meeting held on July 29, 30 and 31, 1998, Council delegated to, respectively, the Chief Administrative Officer and the Commissioner of Corporate Services, the authority to approve certain types of real property transactions. Each of those two positions have separate, independent lists of matters which may be approved by them. At the time of preparation of that report, no alternates were included in the recommendations pending the settling of various transitional matters in the new City.

Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:

Staff has found that having only one specific staff member authorized to sign an approval with respect to any one type of property matter results in a less-than-streamlined process. Accordingly, it is now appropriate to ensure that alternates to both myself and to the Commissioner of Corporate Services are in place within the context of the above-captioned authority. In the case of those matters within the jurisdiction of the CAO to approve, a companion report on the Agenda of today's Administration Committee meeting entitled "Authority in CAO Absence" effectively provides such alternate(s) in the case of the CAO. In the case of those matters within the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Corporate Services to approve, being the more routine and/or minor matters, while the CAO as the Acting Commissioner of Corporate Services does have that authority, if no specific alternate is named, this would mean that all of those minor and/or routine real property approvals would require the specific review and approval of the CAO. Accordingly, it is recommended that for those items previously delegated by Council to the Commissioner of Corporate Services for approval, authority be granted to the Executive Director of Facilities and Real Estate as an alternate, the authority for that alternate to subsist the appointment of a new Commissioner of Corporate Services when same transpires.

Conclusions:

Providing for the appointment of an alternate to the Commissioner of Corporate Services for the purposes of exercising the authority to approve of the various property matters as set out in Clause No. 1 of Report No. 11 of the Corporate Services Committee adopted as amended on July 29, 30, 31, 1998 is not only prudent; but will also result in more expeditious service to both the City and its A,B,C,D's as well as to the members of the public with whom the City is conducting these types of property transactions.

Michael R. Garrett

Chief Administrative Officer