MINUTES
The second meeting of the House of Assembly Management Commission was held in Committee Room 1 on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 8:30 A.M.
Present were all of the members of the Commission, namely: Mr. Gordon Gosse, Hon. Frank Corbett, Ms. Pam Birdsall, Mr. Maurice Smith, Mr. Manning MacDonald, Mr. Andrew Younger, Mr. Murray Scott and Hon. Charlie Parker, who acted as Chair. Also present were Roderick MacArthur, Q.C. and Gordon Hebb, Q.C.
1 Hon. Parker announced that a new Director of Administration has been chosen - namely Deborah Lusby, who will commence her duties on August 9th, 2010.
2 The Agenda was accepted subject to additional business at the end of the Agenda under "Other".
3 With a change in paragraph numbered 4 of the Minutes of the June 9, 2010 meeting as follows: Remove "Existing staff no longer required will be transferred to other offices in Government" and replace with "Some existing staff will be transferred to other offices in Government", the said minutes as amended upon the motion of Ms. Birdsall and seconded by Mr. Smith were carried.
4 With respect to certain proposed amendments recommended in the administrative study carried out by Mr. Rafuse and Mr. Keefe, the amendments dealing with restrictions on activity during an election period was deferred until the next meeting on motion of Hon. Corbett, seconded by Mr. Younger and carried.
Another amendment to the Regulations which institutes 26 pay periods per year for Members
and staff effective the first pay period following January 1st, 2011 was moved by Mr. Gosse, seconded by Mr. Scott and carried.
5 Following considerable discussion, upon motion of Hon. Corbett, seconded by Mr. Younger and carried, it was agreed that the furniture and equipment list for Members' constituency offices as prepared by the Clerk and circulated with the meeting would be approved as an interim measure and that additional changes would be considered at the next Commission meeting.
6 The meeting, upon motion of Mr. Younger, seconded by Hon. Corbett and carried, appointed Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Smith as the Commission's members on the Audit Committee. The matters of appointment of a Chair of the Audit Committee and the length of the term of appointment will be dealt with a later meeting.
7 Upon motion of Mr. MacDonald, seconded by Mr. Gosse and carried, a meeting fee of $150.00 daily plus expenses for the appointees of the Chief Justice on the Audit Committee was approved.
8 The Clerk provided an update with respect to the services that the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal was prepared to provide respecting an inventory control system - that being initial set up and training. Administration staff would be responsible for maintenance of the system following set up. The suggestion was made by the Chair that Hon. Corbett would look into having TIR providing the system on an ongoing basis.
9 Upon motion of Mr. Younger, seconded by Mr. Scott and carried, it was agreed that the Hansard of Commission meetings (except in camera sessions) be posted on the Legislative website.
10 Following considerable discussion upon motion of Mr. MacDonald, seconded by Mr. Scott, the Commission reaffirmed as its own decision the motion earlier taken by the L.I.E.B. that Members with written advertising contracts in effect as at April 1, 2010 which cost in excess of 10% of the monthly constituency allowance cap on advertising, would be allowed to continue as approved by the L.I.E.B.
11 It was agreed that Regulation 27(1) be amended to add "the Leader of a Recognized Party", it being pointed out that the omission of same was an obvious error carried forward for several years.
12 Upon motion of Hon. Corbett, seconded by Mr. Smith and carried, it was agreed that no monies by way of bonus or overtime would be paid to constituency assistants, if the assistant incurred overtime that same would accommodated by time off in lieu.
13 Following considerable discussion, upon motion of Mr. Scott, seconded by Mr. MacDonald and carried, it was agreed that administration staff utilize the date that a bill was paid for the purpose of recording advertising for the month. This motion is considered to be a directive of the Commission.
14 Upon motion of Hon. Corbett, seconded by Mr. Scott and carried, the Commission authorized the Clerk under Section 21 (1) of the Regulations to approve identified expenditures [part-time casual constituency assistants or summer students] on behalf of the Commission so long as the member has appropriate funds in his or her budget to cover such services.
15 Following discussion, a motion moved by Hon. Corbett, seconded by Mr. Gosse was carried. The motion was to the effect that any member who has an accumulated surplus in his or her expense budget for the months of January, February and March of 2010 that such funds may be expended during the calendar year 2010 for advertising purposes as defined by the L.I.E.B. Regulations and Guidelines as were in effect during the January to March, 2010 period.
16 A discussion ensued with respect to a letter received from the constituency office of the member for Argyle concerning a community event. There was no explicit explanation of why the letter was sent. It was surmised that the member was seeking pre-approval for a donation to the community group. It was agreed that the administration would contact the member to seek his explanation.
17 Mr. Younger requested that information be provided by the Office of the Speaker describing what are the acceptable criteria for advertising, being items under the 10 per cent cap. The Chair suggested that such material from the Office would be useful.
18 The meeting adjourned at 9:49 A.M.
These Minutes were approved by the Management Commission on September 28, 2010.
Certified
__________________________________
Speaker
__________________________________
Clerk (Acting)
The second meeting of the House of Assembly Management Commission was held in Committee Room 1 on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 8:30 A.M.
Present were all of the members of the Commission, namely: Mr. Gordon Gosse, Hon. Frank Corbett, Ms. Pam Birdsall, Mr. Maurice Smith, Mr. Manning MacDonald, Mr. Andrew Younger, Mr. Murray Scott and Hon. Charlie Parker, who acted as Chair. Also present were Roderick MacArthur, Q.C. and Gordon Hebb, Q.C.
1 Hon. Parker announced that a new Director of Administration has been chosen - namely Deborah Lusby, who will commence her duties on August 9th, 2010.
2 The Agenda was accepted subject to additional business at the end of the Agenda under "Other".
3 With a change in paragraph numbered 4 of the Minutes of the June 9, 2010 meeting as follows: Remove "Existing staff no longer required will be transferred to other offices in Government" and replace with "Some existing staff will be transferred to other offices in Government", the said minutes as amended upon the motion of Ms. Birdsall and seconded by Mr. Smith were carried.
4 With respect to certain proposed amendments recommended in the administrative study carried out by Mr. Rafuse and Mr. Keefe, the amendments dealing with restrictions on activity during an election period was deferred until the next meeting on motion of Hon. Corbett, seconded by Mr. Younger and carried.
Another amendment to the Regulations which institutes 26 pay periods per year for Members
and staff effective the first pay period following January 1st, 2011 was moved by Mr. Gosse, seconded by Mr. Scott and carried.
5 Following considerable discussion, upon motion of Hon. Corbett, seconded by Mr. Younger and carried, it was agreed that the furniture and equipment list for Members' constituency offices as prepared by the Clerk and circulated with the meeting would be approved as an interim measure and that additional changes would be considered at the next Commission meeting.
6 The meeting, upon motion of Mr. Younger, seconded by Hon. Corbett and carried, appointed Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Smith as the Commission's members on the Audit Committee. The matters of appointment of a Chair of the Audit Committee and the length of the term of appointment will be dealt with a later meeting.
7 Upon motion of Mr. MacDonald, seconded by Mr. Gosse and carried, a meeting fee of $150.00 daily plus expenses for the appointees of the Chief Justice on the Audit Committee was approved.
8 The Clerk provided an update with respect to the services that the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal was prepared to provide respecting an inventory control system - that being initial set up and training. Administration staff would be responsible for maintenance of the system following set up. The suggestion was made by the Chair that Hon. Corbett would look into having TIR providing the system on an ongoing basis.
9 Upon motion of Mr. Younger, seconded by Mr. Scott and carried, it was agreed that the Hansard of Commission meetings (except in camera sessions) be posted on the Legislative website.
10 Following considerable discussion upon motion of Mr. MacDonald, seconded by Mr. Scott, the Commission reaffirmed as its own decision the motion earlier taken by the L.I.E.B. that Members with written advertising contracts in effect as at April 1, 2010 which cost in excess of 10% of the monthly constituency allowance cap on advertising, would be allowed to continue as approved by the L.I.E.B.
11 It was agreed that Regulation 27(1) be amended to add "the Leader of a Recognized Party", it being pointed out that the omission of same was an obvious error carried forward for several years.
12 Upon motion of Hon. Corbett, seconded by Mr. Smith and carried, it was agreed that no monies by way of bonus or overtime would be paid to constituency assistants, if the assistant incurred overtime that same would accommodated by time off in lieu.
13 Following considerable discussion, upon motion of Mr. Scott, seconded by Mr. MacDonald and carried, it was agreed that administration staff utilize the date that a bill was paid for the purpose of recording advertising for the month. This motion is considered to be a directive of the Commission.
14 Upon motion of Hon. Corbett, seconded by Mr. Scott and carried, the Commission authorized the Clerk under Section 21 (1) of the Regulations to approve identified expenditures [part-time casual constituency assistants or summer students] on behalf of the Commission so long as the member has appropriate funds in his or her budget to cover such services.
15 Following discussion, a motion moved by Hon. Corbett, seconded by Mr. Gosse was carried. The motion was to the effect that any member who has an accumulated surplus in his or her expense budget for the months of January, February and March of 2010 that such funds may be expended during the calendar year 2010 for advertising purposes as defined by the L.I.E.B. Regulations and Guidelines as were in effect during the January to March, 2010 period.
16 A discussion ensued with respect to a letter received from the constituency office of the member for Argyle concerning a community event. There was no explicit explanation of why the letter was sent. It was surmised that the member was seeking pre-approval for a donation to the community group. It was agreed that the administration would contact the member to seek his explanation.
17 Mr. Younger requested that information be provided by the Office of the Speaker describing what are the acceptable criteria for advertising, being items under the 10 per cent cap. The Chair suggested that such material from the Office would be useful.
18 The meeting adjourned at 9:49 A.M.
These Minutes were approved by the Management Commission on September 28, 2010.
Certified
__________________________________
Speaker
__________________________________
Clerk (Acting)
