Diehl Report Released

Report finally made public more than two years after Council review

A report issued in 2023 that included a number of recommendations to Council has finally been made public, with a provincially appointed consultant stating Lions Bay "is the most politically polarized and publicly divided that I have experienced."

The "Municipal Advisor’s Report on the State of Governance in the Village of Lions Bay" was delivered by Randy Diehl in 2023, after he was appointed by the province to help address the dysfunction that stemmed in part from the mass exodus of staff earlier in the year. The report provided to Council and the province at the request of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs can now be found on the Village website HERE.

The news comes 13 weeks after the impending release of the report was announced in a statement by Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Ross Blackwell in the May 2 Village Update, and 15 weeks after Mayor Ken Berry reported out of a closed meeting on April 23, listing a ten-point action plan based on the recommendations included in the report.

Blackwell stated back in May that the report was being "redacted in accordance with Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act requirements," and once that process was complete, the document would be released.

The six-page report now available on the site contains no visible redactions.

In the introduction to the report, Diehl said that his company, Diehl Management Services, was contracted by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs "to address governance and administrative issues" in early 2023. Work began on March 30 of that year, and after an extension, was completed August 31.

Diehl said that over the course of the contract, he "fielded over 2,000 emails and hundreds of phone calls from Lions Bay council and residents" as well as attending all regular, special and closed Council meetings.

He also undertook more than a dozen other actions to complete his mandate, including having conversations with the RCMP, assisting the Village in contracting financial and corporate legislative consultants, helping to hire the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), researching best practices from other jurisdictions, reviewing management contracts and negotiating a grievance with CUPE, among others.

The report addressed a number of topics, including Council roles and conduct, staffing, local government processes and trust among Council members. Diehl repeatedly referenced the importance of a respectful political process, and how the evident lack of trust within the group resulted in members of Council being more combative than collaborative with each other.

After what Diehl refers to as "the departure" of CAO Peter DeJong in December 2022, and the subsequent resignations of long-term, experienced staff, he noted the result was "a serious shortfall in expertise in the areas of finance, legislative/corporate affairs, public works, building inspections and senior management."

De Jong was dismissed from his position as CAO after seven years in the role in December of 2022, and subsequently filed a civil action against the Village, which was resolved in March, 2024.

This shortfall was compounded by hiring practices for replacement staff that "did not reflect best practices", increasing the mistrust of Council members and staff, according to Diehl.

He noted that, contrary to the Community Charter, the Village's Annual Report and Audit were not submitted by provincial deadlines. He attributed this delay to, among other things, the lack of recording of minutes from closed meetings. In fact, the 2022 Annual Report was not completed prior to the end of Diehl's mandate.

According to the Village website, neither the 2023 Annual Report (due June 30, 2024) nor the 2024 Annual Report, which was due June 29 of this year have yet been released to residents or submitted to the province.

Diehl made a number of recommendations to Council:

1. Implement, Follow and Support the “One Employee” Model

2. Strengthen Core Village Operations, Processes and Policies

3. Participate in Council Training and Professional Development

4. Strengthen HR and Hiring Practices

5. Review External Communication Processes

While the published report offered no final conclusions, Diehl expressed confidence that with new professional and experienced staff "the level of trust will improve."

In response to a query from The Watershed as to the long delay over the release of this report, CAO Blackwell said he was "not clear" why Council chose not to release the report earlier, however he said the current release is a "good thing, given that the focus is on how Council and the organization optimize its effectiveness."

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