City creates 'action plan' after scathing audit of leasing unit
Reeling from an embarrassing audit of city leasing, management has appointed another worker to run the leasing unit, increased staff training and made plans to hire an advisor to help with a new leasing policy.
In a memo sent to council Wednesday, corporate services general manager Marian Simulik and planning general manager Stephen Willis said Nicholas Delahousse had been appointed acting manager of the leasing unit on April 1. He previously worked on land acquisitions for the LRT project and, before joining the city, practised law.
Auditor general Ken Hughes released a searing review of the leasing unit last week, revealing mismanagement of a real estate section bringing in revenue for the city. The audit is scheduled to be part of the council meeting agenda next Wednesday, prompting management to provide details of its “action plan” a week in advance.
The audit discovered that the city had no leasing policy and that the leasing unit had incomplete files and missing documentation. In fact, the audit team couldn’t even do a complete audit because of the missing information; a computer program used by the unit couldn’t produce a complete list of leases.
Hughes made 30 recommendations to city management about the leasing unit.
The memo sent to council Wednesday says an action plan will address the most significant recommendations. The plan includes a training session for all real estate staff on the city’s document management policy and the creation of a working group for software issues related to lease tracking.
While management previously committed to delivering a lease policy by the end of 2019, the memo says management’s goal is to have the policy done by the fall.
The external advisor will help with developing the policy and a strategy for “overhold” leases, which are leases that continue month-to-month after expiration of the original lease term. Audit staff found 27 leases that had been on overhold for an average of 32 months.
The memo said an outside advisor would also be hired to do a service delivery review of the real estate portfolio after council had approved a leasing policy.
The corporate real estate office, where the leasing unit resides, is being moved from the corporate services department to the planning department.