Prince Rupert's Annual Report is a Snapshot with missing features

"When folks ask us, you know, about the details of the City's business, the finances, what's going on with what department.  The annual report is actually the catch all, of all of the things that the city does. And a lot of times when people ask questions I refer them to the Annual Report and certain sections, so that they can get the answers that they are looking for. So the Annual Report really does have many of the answers that people in the community are looking for and we encourage residents to read it because it gives the highlights, the progress and also the future budgeting and what we anticipate coming over the next five years as well"-- Mayor Lee Brain speaking Monday to the value of the City's Annual Report

Mayor Lee Brain has a good book (of sorts) he would like residents to read, and if your summer time reading list includes notes on the scope of the work of Prince Rupert City Council and staff, then the 2019 Annual Report is worth an online look.

Much of the document highlights the many themes that City Council wants to have delivered, particularly on their initiatives of the last year.

A stream of infographics and short overviews of achievements from the year making for their talking points and the main thrust of the Annual Report.

The Financial statements provided form the final stages of the review, delivering a snapshot to the revenues and expenses.

There are however some areas where a bit more detail could help to provide a wider overview of some of the more mysterious of city investments and initiatives.

The 2019 Annual Report makes little mention of the work of the Legacy Corporation, a civic initiative created in the fall of 2015, flush with cash from the heady days of anticipated hyper-economic activity and the largesse of Exxon.

The Global oil giant having paid a fairly impressive amount just to put down some stakes on Lot 444, all towards an LNG terminal project that they eventually took a pass on.

Since then however, while often praised by the city's councillors as a pivotal part of the financial picture for the city, we really don't know much more about the workings of Legacy than we did five years ago.

Likewise, the Watson Intermodal Trade and Logistics Park, which recently marked its third anniversary, is another financial vehicle that city staff and council makes note of often.

Though regular updates on the how that mechanism is being used are few and far between, details such as how much and on what the City is putting out in expenses mostly a number on a financial report with little background provided.

As for revenues, so far the only tenant that has been announced has been Pembina, which continues to move forward with its work on the second LPG terminal for Prince Rupert, though if any other companies have come along to kick the Watson tires, the city hasn't said so publicly.

With no further announcements on the progress towards leasing space at Watson Island delivered since the Alberta energy company came to town in 2017.

The City's ownership of CityWest likewise doesn't merit much of an overview, and for the most part any mention of all three of the key investment instruments, have been basically left to one or two line items in the Financial statements that make up the back pages of the Annual Report.

Another area where the Annual Report might help provide for a look at where the City spends our money is through the Request for Proposals that fuel many of the major projects that the City takes on.

A score card of sorts that lists the various RFP's that have been entertained through the year and the success that the city has found; as well as a listing of the successful bidders and the final cost would help give residents a much larger overview of the importance of an Open Bidding process for Civic work.

The Same could go for the many grant opportunities that are available for municipal government in British Columbia. While this years report does touch on the topic to a fashion, a listing of the grants applied for and whether the city found success or not, would be a helpful guide.

Such an overview would provide some back ground as to where the city is focused on getting the most value for their budgetary desires, as well as to highlight just how much work that city staff puts into seeking those vital funds for future civic needs.

And then there's the ongoing missed opportunity of providing for a comprehensive look at how our elected officials are making use of their expense accounts.

A topic that is barely addressed in the annual SOFI report, the amounts usually listed as a lump sum, and this year delayed until August, because of COVID.

The Annual report might actually be a better placement of such information, where we could receive a full account of the travels of the Mayor, Councillors and Senior staff.

We do  have a thumbnail sketch of Mayor Brain's travels, mainly through occasional entries to his Social Media account.

So from that less than comprehensive archive we know that some of the Mayor's travels in 2019 took him to Vancouver, Victoria, Prince George, Calgary, Ketchikan and Juneau.

Yet the duration and purpose of those trips and whether the Mayor is staying at say the Fairmont Vancouver Airport, an economical hotel in Prince George, or has taken up residence in an AirBNB for a conference, do not make for any official public documentation related to expense and cost to the taxpayer. 

The same goes for the scope of the air travel required, or any other expenses incurred while on official business.

We have even less information when it comes to how many times the members of Council or senior staff may have hit the road; all of which leaves a rather significant gap in the goal of transparency that is often a key buzzword for our elected officials.

That kind of data is probably available by way of a Freedom of Information request, but residents of any city who are paying the way, really shouldn't have to go through such bureaucratic hoops to get what should be easily accessible public information.

It would seem that an Annual Report might be a good place to provide for those additional details to get a wider overview of the work of Council and the staff who keep the city moving.

Better yet providing for such data as Expense Reports, Requests for Bids and the list of successful bidders and other areas in need of transparency, might be better placed prominently on the City website. 

Offering up a collection of documentation that can be updated regularly  providing the public with a better understanding of civic activity and an archive that is available to review as they wish.

For more notes on Monday's City Council Session see our Council Timeline feature here.

Further items of note on Council Discussion themes can be explored from our archive here.