Edmonton Journal

Council set to vote on city manager’s contract renewal ELISE STOLTE

Cochrane’s first term in post dogged by negative news, upheaval

- estolte@postmedia.com Twitter.com/estolte

City council is gearing up to vote on whether or not to renew city manager Linda Cochrane’s contract after a term marked by upheaval and negative news.

During Cochrane’s nearly three years at the top, councillor­s wrestled with reports of widespread workplace bullying, several damaging audits and still haven’t found a solution for problems with the Metro LRT Line. They ’ve been through numerous re-organizati­onal charts as Cochrane broke up and restructur­ed department­s.

But council asked her to be transparen­t and make big moves on reforming city culture, said Coun. Ben Henderson in an interview Monday. He said he’s been happy with her leadership as she tries to rebuild a city focused on service, one open to community input and collaborat­ion.

“Obviously, it’s not all smooth sailing,” he added, pointing to the audits. But many of those dealt with issues that originated before her time. “There’s an impression that things were not in control,” he said. “It makes it look like she’s been running a loose ship. I actually think it’s the sign of a ship that’s tightening itself up.”

Mayor Don Iveson said he expects council will make an announceme­nt on Cochrane’s contract this week. The issue is listed on the in-camera portion of Tuesday’s council agenda.

During Cochrane’s tenure, the Edmonton city auditor’s office raised doubts about its former world-class recycling system. It raised conflict of interest concerns around a $74-million sand recycling contract, then said its broader procuremen­t and tendering process couldn’t show it was getting value for money.

It criticized oversight of Edmonton’s developer-funded reserve fund, and found city employees had lost faith in the complaint process meant to protect against workplace bullying. As city manager, Cochrane oversaw a massive re-organizati­on of city services. She broke apart the transporta­tion department, realigning city work units to try break down internal silos.

“It will be unsettling for a while,” said Henderson, but he thinks her work has achieved a shift in city culture. Especially for transporta­tion projects, city officials are now trying to design with the community and not in secrecy.

Cochrane was Edmonton’s general manager of community services when council let go former city manager Simon Farbrother. She was named acting city manager in September 2015 and landed the permanent contract the following March after an internatio­nal search.

Her current contract doesn’t expire until March 2019. But a decision needs to be made now, said Coun. Tony Caterina. If council doesn’t renew the contract, an internatio­nal replacemen­t search would take months. “You don’t want to be sitting in a position of no (city manager).”

He said he’s found the constant reorganiza­tion difficult. “It seems like it’s been going on for such a long time now. It has caused some disruption, even our offices (don’t know who to contact).”

Various councillor­s suggested there has been disagreeme­nt on council about the right length of a contract renewal.

A shorter period is more likely to get widespread support, said Coun. Tim Cartmell. As for his views on her leadership: “Some things I really, really like. Other things I’m not thrilled with.”

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