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CAMA E-Brief
| PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE: HONOURARY MEMBERSHIP FOR LIFE AWARD |
Dear Colleagues:
I am inviting you to nominate one or more of your colleagues in this unique field of municipal administration for an Honourary Life Membership in CAMA. This honour is presented to long serving CAMA members during the President’s Dinner at the Annual Conference to individuals who have made an extraordinary contribution to the field of municipal administration and to the work of the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA). Previous recipients of the award include: John Robison, Cy Armstrong, the late Robert Byron, Wes Lancaster, Murray MacLean, Paul Stapleton, Richard White, Bob Linner, Doug Lagore, Gerard Lewis, Cecil Vincent, Jim Toye, Doug Lychak, Ron Shaw, Duncan Campbell and Chris MacPherson.
Please note that nominees will be considered based on the following criteria:
- length of time served in local government as a CAO or direct report to a CAO;
- membership in CAMA for a period of at least ten (10) years;
- recognition as making a significant contribution to CAMA;
- recognition as making a significant contribution to their community;
- recognition as making an outstanding contribution to local government; administration within the professional community at the local, regional, provincial or national level.
The deadline for receipt at the CAMA National Office is February 19, 2021. Please do take the time to reflect on potential candidates and submit a nomination. There is nothing more meaningful to a professional than to be recognized by one’s peers for a job well done. Over the years there are many individuals who have made a difference within our profession, our organization and in the community.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Jake Rudolph
President |
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| 2021 CAMA Awards of Excellence - Call for Nominations |
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| CAMA'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES - FREE WEBINARS |
%20Button%20(E).jpg) As part of our ongoing commitment to our members we are pleased to introduce the CAMA 50th Anniversary Professional Development Series for 2021. This new program will be comprised of various webinars that are coordinated for the CAO/City Manager, senior managers and their employees. Along with our own webinar series, CAMA Partner companies will be providing educational and informative learning opportunities that showcase innovative services and products relevant to municipal management. Free of charge to all CAMA members this will be a wonderful way to provide an eclectic selection of resources to all your employees. Please forward to your staff members.
See the January professional development opportunities below. |
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| Webinar: Mental Health and Addictions in the Workplace and PTSD – In the Unlikely Event - Police Chief Roger Brown |
 Roger Brown has a storied and impressive career in policing, with almost four decades of experience. After a brief retirement, Chief Brown currently serves at the helm of the Fredericton Police Force. Chief Brown previously held rank of Assistant Commissioner of the RCMP in New Brunswick, and it was during that time that he had to deal with several major issues, including the shale gas protests near Rexton, the murders of three members of the Codiac detachment in Moncton, and the public PTSD struggles and suicide of a member. Chief Brown took the reins at Fredericton Police almost a year after that department lost two officers in a tragic shooting. Chief Brown now speaks around the country about mental health issues: seeking psychological help, PTSD, and the stigma around mental illness. He shares his own story in the hopes of empowering others to seek help, and to help others.
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2021
Time: 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST
Who Can Attend This Webinar?: CAMA Members and Their Employees. Non-Members are also welcome to attend.
Who Will Benefit from this Webinar? CAOs and Senior Management
Registration Cost: FREE but registration is required using the link below.
Link to Register |
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| Webinar Hosted by Microsoft: Work Unplugged | Meeting Employees Where They Already Are |
Municipalities are the heart beat of this country, its employees the rhythm, so how do you make sure that the rhythm stays on track? That you keep people up to date working on various complex projects and ensure that employees are informed and able to do their best work? Microsoft Teams has millions of daily active users worldwide! In an organization where its challenging to disseminate important information and keep employees up to date with the view from the top, Microsoft Teams can help. With app templates available and SharePoint within Teams employees can stay fully informed through a curated experience that offers up to date information on health, well-being, inclusion, benefits and notes from leadership. Tune into this webinar to learn more from Microsoft Canada on Microsoft Teams platform capabilities for municipalities and governments.
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2021
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM EST
Who Can Attend This Webinar? CAMA Members and Their Employees. Non-Members are also welcome.
Who Will Benefit from This Webinar? All Government Industry Professionals.
Registration Cost: FREE but registration is required using the link below.
Link to Register: https://mktoevents.com/Microsoft+Event/228734/157-GQE-382
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| Political Acumen: Collaborating On Municipal Services |
 Recognizing the importance of political understanding in the role of senior municipal administrators, also referred to as political acumen, the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) launched a Political Acumen Toolkit. Today’s featured category is information on Collaborating on Municipal Services.
One of the most important external relationships you can build as a municipality is with your municipal neighbours. This is particularly critical when it comes to municipal services that are provided jointly or accessed by residents of another municipality. Progress in intermunicipal partnerships is made through common interests, understanding, and trust.
Municipal Service Negotiations
One of the key areas where municipalities work together is on the provision of municipal services such as water, wastewater, waste, transportation, recreation, emergency services and more. While most of the time discussions and negotiations regarding these services areas are cordial, occasionally they veer into becoming disputes. Establishing strong relationships can help avoid negative dialogues; however, when this is not possible, it is up to the CAO to come up with a successful strategy on how the conversation can move forward.
Recreation services are one of the main points of contention between neighbouring municipalities, particularly when an urban municipality believes that the rural municipality surrounding it is not contributing its fair share. Often, these discussions lead to negotiations, and if an understanding/agreement cannot be reached between Administration and Council, they can even progress to costly mediation or arbitration. Whether it is the use of a recreation facility or another service, it is the responsibility of the CAOs to demonstrate that a fair and reasonable contribution either is or is not being provided for the cost or provision of the service.
Occasionally, a Council decides it wishes to undertake a project they feel provides services to residents of other municipalities, in addition to their own. The decision to proceed often occurs without Council engaging in dialogue with their municipal neighbours, only to be followed by the municipality going to their neighbours and asking for a contribution toward the capital and operating expenses. This request can be met with limited support as the adjacent municipality was not involved in the original decision-making process.
We have all heard comments from councillors that the surrounding municipalities are not paying their fair share. One way to gain additional support is by engaging your municipal neighbours in funding discussions before reaching a decision. If these deliberations do not result in a favourable outcome, then a decision must be made by the municipality that wants the new service on whether to proceed.
How can a CAO deal with these kinds of situations? While there are any number of different options, here are a few worth considering:
• Develop a Funding Formula
• Depoliticize the issue
• Suggest Differential Fee
• Deny Access
More details on these different options can be found in the Political Acumen Toolkit at this link (Collaborating on Municipal Services)
 Best Practice: When approaching intermunicipal negotiations is to have the CAO meet with the other CAO(s) first to discuss the issue and possible solutions. If the CAOs can have an honest and transparent conversation, the approval of an agreement on joint service provision usually becomes much less of a controversial issue when Council approval is sought. Astute CAOs will know what their Council are likely and unlikely to accept and should represent this in any intermunicipal discussions. Doing this will help achieve a cordial and successful negotiation between the municipalities and provides both Councils with an accomplishment they can take credit for with voters. |
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| WELCOME NEW MEMBERS! |
- Caroline Blair-Smith, Executive Director, Human Resources, Halifax Regional Municipality, NS
- Andrew Tobin, Finance and Administration Officer, Town of Flatrock, NL
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CAMA e-Brief is published every two weeks. Watch for the next issue on: The week of January 25, 2021
To view the last CAMA e-Brief, visit: http://www.camacam.ca/archive |
Job Scene is distributed every week. The Next issue will appear on: January 18, 2021
To view the latest Jobs go to: http://www.camacam.ca/jobs |
| CAMA is a non-profit association open to all senior managers dedicated to improving municipalities in Canada. |
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Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators
PO Box 128, Station A
Fredericton, NB E3B 4Y2
CANADA |
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