BOARD GAMES
Apparently, the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Police Board is overworked.
The seven-member board, which is chaired by Mayor Gregor Robertson, wants to shift some of its duties to prospective new members.
In a June 30 letter to Solicitor General Shirley Bond, the mayor requested the board be increased by three members. The board is the governing body for the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Police Department.
"The workload which falls to each of our board members is heavy; we would welcome the opportunity to attract the expertise of additional members to participate in our work," the mayor wrote. "The Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Police Board would be pleased to participate in any review process of these sections of the Police Act in order to improve police governance and accountability in Canada."
So far, there's been no reply from Bond's office. According to the police board's website, the workload of a police board member primarily entails attending a whole lot of meetings, including conferences for the B.C. Association of Police Boards and Canadian Association of Police Boards.
It's the board's job to hire a chief-and fire him, if need be-and conduct an annual evaluation of a chief's performance. This is a document the public never sees and instead has to rely on the board's word that a chief is doing a good job.
The board also sets policy. Board members are paid a per diem of $264 for a meeting that lasts no more than four hours. That per diem increases to $527 for a meeting that goes for four to eight hours. The board meets publicly at least once per month, as it did July 20.
Under current regulations, the city can appoint one member, while it's up to the provincial government to choose the others. The mayor's position as chairperson of the board is de facto but not a role Robertson enjoys.
As he told me in October 2010, wearing two hats has its challenges. "It makes more sense to separate [the roles]," Robertson said. "I agree with all of those who have called for this to change because I don't think it's best practices to have dual roles."
At the time, the mayor pointed out the inherent conflict in his role as a politician who approves budgets for the police department. It was a topic last fall because of the results of the board's self-evaluation, a report it does annually. The evaluation pointed out "the weaknesses of the current structure."
Three years ago, the then-board recommended asking the solicitor general's office to consider revising the Police Act to prevent the mayor from continuing as chairperson of the board. So far, the board has agreed to stick with the mayor of the day assuming duties as chairperson of the board. Sam Sullivan did it, so did Larry Campbell, Philip Owen and so on.
In the past month, the mayor's role as chairperson and as leader of city council has put Robertson in an awkward position in answering questions about the Stanley Cup riot. What did he know about the police's operational plan? Did the police have enough money and resources to do the job?
Police Chief Jim Chu is on contract until 2015. If Robertson is re-elected in the November civic election, he will continue as chairperson of the police board at least until November 2014.
Twitter: @Howellings
