The “dysfunction” within the District of Sechelt Council has not improved since the release of a governance audit earlier this summer, say several council members.
Three councillors sat down with Coast Reporter on Aug. 14, following council’s endorsement last month of a governance audit that identified “dysfunction” within the governing body and called for a public apology from Mayor John Henderson for his role in the dysfunction, among other recommendations.
The audit –– of which only the 29-page executive summary is public –– identified a strained relationship between the mayor and the rest of council as well as the mayor and senior staff, particularly with the district’s chief administrative officer (CAO).
Henderson has made statements of “regret” to the public and in private to council but has not –– by council’s understanding –– apologized.
“This Council has spent far too much time and nervous energy trying to cope with the internal turmoil which has and will handicap their efforts in moving the needle on anything new that some or even all would like to accomplish,” the executive summary said. It later added, “The impasse that we have witnessed will quite likely persist until the mayor recognizes that any rapprochement with council needs to begin with his apology and to reach out to see what words, steps, actions council as a whole deem adequate.”
At Coast Reporter’s offices on Aug. 14, Councillors Brenda Rowe, Adam Shepherd and Alton Toth discussed why council requested the audit, the dysfunction’s impact on staff and what councillors need to hear to move forward.
‘In some ways, it was worse than I thought’
Ordering the audit was not something council took lightly, said Rowe, a second-term councillor who also serves as acting mayor (essentially deputy mayor) for the district.
“We don’t want to be one of those communities that’s in the news every week,” said Rowe.
When solving matters internally didn’t work, they sought a third-party perspective, ordering a governance audit from management consultant George B. Cuff and Associates –– which has counted more than 40 B.C. local governments among its clients –– in February.
Council received the report in June.
Not only did the report reinforce what Rowe believed was happening, “in some ways, it was worse than I thought, especially from the staff perspective,” she said.
Rowe paraphrased a line from the report: “This has been a difficult council to serve from a staff perspective.”
“For me, that’s shameful. That shouldn’t be how we’re described,” said Rowe.
She talked of senior staff’s effort to make the district a desirable employer after a decade of high staff turnover. “And we are now a place that people want to work…We are a place that gets multiple applications for jobs, and we don’t want to lose that.
“Having one empty position in a planning department or an engineering department can really impact what needs to happen in the community,” said Rowe.
Staff have not been lost over this matter, said Rowe, but the district is starting to see the wear of the dysfunction. “So it remains a concern.” Though, Rowe also says that staff feel the support of councillors.
The Cuff report laid bare what was needed to fix things –– not only regarding the mayor but in process changes, such as striking a governance and priorities committee, according to Shepherd and Toth. “To have them come out and state some of this stuff more cleanly and plainly –– it’s been a positive thing to read and understand,” said Toth, also a second-term councillor and one of two Sechelt representatives on the regional district board.
“We’re really relying on the mayor to take all of these recommendations to heart and to move on them, implement them, to improve the level of communication,” said Shepherd, a first-term councillor. “I think he acknowledged that in his statement, so now staff are relying on the implementation.”
Outbursts
Last year, Henderson was censured by the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) board for what he characterised as a “short verbal outburst” toward an SCRD staff member during a break of a public board meeting in April 2023.
Asked if there have been similar “outbursts” at the district that they’ve seen, councillors were careful with their wording.
“I think we’ve all experienced outbursts,” said Toth.
“The difficulty in answering that is that [the SCRD case] was a clear breach of their code of conduct. So do we have to date a clear breach of the code of conduct? I mean, nothing’s being launched, but we don’t want it to get there,” said Shepherd. “That’s where council have to step in to prevent that and all the damage that flows from that.”
Apology still needed
One of the Cuff report’s recommendations, which council specifically endorsed by resolution, is that Henderson apologize. Council has not heard an apology said Rowe. “An apology actually involves apologizing, saying that one is sorry, demonstrating that one understands what the impact that they had was,” said Rowe. “In other words, stating what they understand to be their role in the dysfunction. None of that is in his statement.”
While Henderson has said he made a statement in private to councillors in June, Rowe said Cuff had seen that statement before he released his report. “[Cuff] would not have asked for an apology had he thought that that was sufficient,” said Rowe.
“This is not new. When he was censured at the SCRD, [Henderson] made a statement that he identified as his apology. We did not see it that way and apologized on behalf of the district,” said Rowe. Council issued an apology to the SCRD board and staff on behalf of District of Sechelt in November 2023 for the “outburst” incident the previous spring.
Talking about the potential legal ramifications of an apology, Toth pointed to B.C. having the Apology Act, which allows one to apologize without assuming legal liability for the choice of words.
“The statement [Henderson] made talks about working harder and doing more for the community. And I don’t think any of us question that he wants to do a lot for this community, but we need him to recognize that some of the things that he has already done have been damaging to this community, and I don’t think he’s there yet,” said Toth.
“As a leader, I think apologizing is one of the strongest things you can actually do,” said Rowe. “I’m not sure everyone feels that way and it would appear from his actions that he feels that he said enough and he doesn’t need to say to say any more.”
‘He’s got to be the leader’
Asked about public discourse that there is a shared responsibility in the dysfunction, councillors pointed to the theme in the report that the “tone starts at the top.”
“He’s got to be the leader,” said Rowe. The mayor-CAO relationship was much discussed in the Cuff report, and with the councillors, both pointing to the necessity of repairing that relationship. The report recommended a covenant to reset the relationship.
“So much of the town’s business is handled [in that relationship],” said Shepherd. “It’s just too critical to not be fixed.”
Rowe noted the current CAO’s years of experience in local government and lack of issues with council in the previous term. “This is not a CAO that’s been out of the block for six months,” said Rowe. “The mayor has to read the writing on the wall and see his part in this.”
No improvement
Asked if things have gotten better since the Cuff report’s release, the councillors said “no.”
Asked if things had gotten worse, Rowe said, only in terms of frustration over the lack of apology.
“Everything in the Cuff report basically follows on taking responsibility for actions and apologizing, and so if we can’t get past that first step…,” said Toth.
“To us, it really shows the commitment moving forward,” finished Rowe.
Personal toll
All three councillors talked of the personal toll the dysfunction has played, in consuming work time, family time, and in legacy.
“If this had been my first term, there wouldn’t have been a second,” said Toth. “I would not have run again. But I’m grateful for the first term, because I know what it can be.”
He said he has considered quitting but decided to stick it out so as not to cause a byelection. “And I think we’ve got a good group on council right now, we just have to keep looking forward.”
Next steps
Other than ordering the audit and limiting council-staff communications (in anticipation of the audit, council enacted a temporary policy in May requiring staff-council communications pass through Rowe), Sechelt council has not imposed further formal restrictions on the mayor.
As recommended by Cuff, council has asked staff to bring back a report based on the fact the apology didn’t happen, said Rowe, looking at the code of conduct. “That’s going to be happening shortly with a professional in that area. So that’s yet to be determined,” she said.
Henderson says he hasn’t seen the entire report
Reached for comment Aug. 27, Henderson reiterated that he shared remarks of regret privately and publicly with council this summer. “I regret what’s gone on and it’s time to move forward,” he said.
Henderson said he’s focused on “taking care of things, getting things dealt with,” pointing to the recent community safety meeting.
Asked about councillors stating that they still require an apology to move forward, Henderson said, “They’re entitled very much to their views but we’ve got a lot of important things to address, and we should be dealing with those, not continuing to go through something that’s really been playing out for the better part of a year.”
Henderson intimated that he was looking for accountability from others. “If there’s something that I could do better going forward, I’m prepared to do it. Equally, if there’s things that need to be done by others, I hold them to the same standard.”
Henderson wouldn’t give further detail on that matter, as those parts of the Cuff report haven’t been released publicly. He revealed as well that he has not seen the entire report.
“There are parts of the audit report that I haven’t seen, and there are parts that the public haven’t seen either,” said Henderson.
Henderson said he has asked for the entire governance audit to be released publicly.
“I’d say most of the recommendations related to me have been released but there’s a lot of other recommendations that have not been published, publicized, disclosed,” he said.
Asked about councillors’ concerns regarding staff and a district culture they characterised as “uneasy,” Henderson said the district has a “great team of people” and that he’s one person.
“I don’t think anybody has that capability to make a great team alone, or, for that matter, to hurt a great team.”
Henderson acknowledged this council has struggled. “I’ve tried to show some leadership by taking action that I think is in the best interest of Sechelt, and it seems that at least some council has disagreed with that, which is their right,” said Henderson. “I’m focused on delivering results for Sechelt, and I think a good focus on getting things done, gets the team motivated.”
Asked if he believes things have improved since the Cuff report’s release, Henderson said “no.”
“I tried to get it released so we could deal with everything transparently and accept we’re going to make these changes and adjust this and do whatever, and then say, ‘OK we’ve committed to that now. Let’s get back to dealing with crime and safety and water and potholes and all the other things that are really important.’”
– with files from Jordan Copp
