As far as Norfolk County’s top civil servant is aware, town hall is not a hotbed of corruption.
But chief administrative officer Al Meneses still recommended the municipality set up a “waste and fraud hotline” to allow county employees — and eventually the general public — to anonymously report “inefficiencies and incidents of wrongdoing involving the county’s operation.”
“We’re not suggesting that waste and fraud is rampant within Norfolk,” Meneses said at the July 8 council meeting.
“It’s about public trust and transparency, and giving the public confidence that we are doing everything we can to make sure there is no fraud and waste of taxpayer dollars.”
There is currently no way for whistleblowers to anonymously submit tips alleging the misuse or theft of county funds or property, or to report alleged criminal activity that puts people or the natural environment at risk.
There should be a process in place to confidentially report “something going on that shouldn’t be going on,” including workplace reprisals, conflicts of interest and improper use of personal data, Meneses said.
“This is an additional safety valve … that gives someone the courage to speak up and allows us to investigate,” he said.
Councillors acknowledged the need to protect whistleblowers, but some worried the proposed hotline could become a vehicle for vendettas against county employees.
“Do you foresee any risk of abuse?” asked Coun. Adam Veri.
That has not been the case in other municipalities, replied Sydney Stortini from the CAO’s office, who said starting a fraud and waste hotline “almost always results in significant increases in the reporting and detection of instances of fraud.”
In Hamilton, Stortini said, a complaints portal run by Whistleblower Security Inc. brought in 85 tips in its first year of operation, leading to five employees being fired and two matters turned over to police.
Anonymous tips helped the city identify $439,000 worth of fraudulent activity and wasteful spending over two years, Stortini said.
“The fear of having personal vendettas come up shouldn’t stop us from trying to weed out fraud and waste,” Meneses added.
The CAO suggested a two-year pilot project for the new hotline. In the first year, only county staff could submit tips. If the first year saw positive results with a minimal number of frivolous complaints, the public would be invited to use the hotline in the second year.
Staff’s recommendation was to hire a third-party company to objectively review all complaints, but council balked at the potential bill.
Instead, the CAO’s office will oversee the program during the pilot, at no added cost to the county.
“I think that’s a great first step (to) quantify the volume of interest and potential savings,” said Mayor Amy Martin, who described the hotline as a “maturity exercise” to help the municipality “be fully transparent” with residents.
“Never once have I had any concerns from our staff or have I heard of any abuse,” the mayor said.
Coun. Linda Vandendriessche worried about the hotline being “flooded” with “hundreds” of “frivolous” tips, while Coun. Tom Masschaele wondered about the effect on employee morale.
“This has a bit of a Big Brother feel to it,” Masschaele said.
But Coun. Kim Huffman said the hotline could help.
“I can think of numerous times since I’ve been elected that I would be directing a member of the public to call this number,” she said. “I think this is a very positive thing.”
Council approved the two-year pilot project, which Stortini said could be up and running within six weeks.
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