Editorial: Trust in Calgary city council must be restored

As the expense account scandal surrounding Coun. Joe Magliocca grows, with even the integrity commissioner snared in its net, Calgary city council has lost the trust of taxpayers.

And no wonder.

The Ward 2 representative was among nine councillors and the mayor who went to an annual conference of municipal politicians in Quebec City last year. Magliocca stood out among his colleagues for the sheer size of his expenses, $6,400, about twice as much as anyone else.

But this is just the pinot noir and sirloin tip of the iceberg. Our reporters discovered that most of the people with whom he shared his table on the taxpayers’ dime, as claimed in his expenses, did not, in fact, do so. Eight politicians across Canada deny they were treated by the councillor.

Magliocca apologized, called these problems “clerical errors,” paid some expenses back and later blamed his age. However, we’re not talking about losing a receipt or a name here and there. The councillor falsely claimed he was doing business with other politicians during his meals — eight times. It’s either deliberate or highly incompetent.

It’s also embarrassing for Calgary when politicians across the country are dragged into our financial scandal. One of them complained to council’s integrity commissioner.

As for his age excuse, it just shows the contempt he holds for the careful use of someone else’s money.

A taxpayer might assume that council, guardians of the city’s purse and reputation, would have pounced on this. You would think they really do have taxpayers in mind with every penny spent.

Instead, there was a collective “meh” initially, with some taking the “everybody makes mistakes” route. Let’s hope everyone on council does not make these “mistakes.”

Then this week we learned the integrity commissioner was ensnared in the expenses net. Sal LoVecchio thought he was having a social lunch with Magliocca, a dubious thing in itself since he’s council’s referee. But after it was over, the councillor claimed the $163 meal on his expenses. The watchdog, who said he didn’t know this until this week, had to recuse himself from any further investigation.

At least this diner really did share a meal with Magliocca, but this may be the last straw at council — finally. Coun. Jyoti Gondek wants to find another process for looking into the councillor’s expenses. Coun. Jeff Davison wants to remove the integrity commissioner, since his credibility has been called into question. Earlier this week, Coun. Jeromy Farkas also proposed limits on attendance and spending at the annual conference.

Restoring credibility to council will not be easy. Tough measures will have to be taken. So be it.

For a start, Magliocca should do the right thing and quit. We have no confidence he can handle his own budget, let alone make billion-dollar decisions.

Then councillors should revamp their expenses policy. We have no evidence of “clerical errors” by other councillors, but it seems way too easy for this to repeat itself.

As well, a councillor should not be entrusted with signoff on expenses. That’s a clear conflict of interest. Figure out a way to make that duty arm’s-length.

Finally, as policy, the current council should not choose its own integrity czar. That should be the job of the previous council, with a list of substitutes if there’s a premature departure.

Then, and only then, can council hope to begin restoring its badly tarnished credibility.