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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