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MIRANET received the City of Mississauga Draft Code of Conduct (31p PDF) as circulated to residents' associations on July 9, 2010. Public comment was requested by August 18, 2010.
City Press Release (July 9, 2010): . Excerpt: "Members of the public are invited to review a draft code of conduct for the Mayor and Members of Council and appointment of an Integrity Commissioner developed by a committee of Council with staff support from the City Manager and CAO and the City Solicitor."
MIRANET SUBMISSION:
Date: August 20, 2010
Sent to:
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; copied to Council, Senior Staff and City Solicitor
1) Circulation of such a document over the summer months, while residents' associations are less active, and while Council and Committees are not sitting regularly, is not in the best interest of citizen engagement on this issue ;
2) The final report and recommendations of the current Mississauga Judicial Inquiry, which has the express purpose of ascertaining what best needs to be done, will be germane to the future conduct of all individuals who represent our City and should be central to the creation of any Code of Conduct for both Council and Staff ;
3) Given that the proposed Code of Conduct does not apply to the present Council nor to the existing rules for the Municipal Election on October 25, 2010, and with this election campaign underway, it is not appropriate to finalize the document until there is a new (post-election) Council in place to consider and possibly approve it ;
4) The necessity for the creation of such a Code of Conduct, rather than adjustments to the existing options for oversight and accountability of municipal conduct, should be reviewed and, along with the resultant cost to the taxpayers for any implementation, needs to be presented to the public in a comprehensive and transparent manner.
This matter will be on the Agenda for the next MIRANET meeting in the Fall, and we will be pleased to provide our thoughts on the possible content of such a document at a future time when there is the fullness of shared knowledge.
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