The board chair of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District is strongly recommending a third-party review into the spending controversy surrounding former CAO, Sukh Gill, with the findings to be made public.
Ken Gillis says the TNRD can, and will, do better, after a lengthy investigation into Gill’s spending of taxpayer money between 2015 and 2020 was published by Kamloops This Week.
According to documents published, Gill spent more than half a million dollars of taxpayer money on his work credit card, though Gillis says some of it was legitimate spending related to TNRD work, though he could not say how much.
Gillis also admitted the board did not know the extent to which spending occurred and called the amounts both ‘surprising’ and ‘somewhat distressing’. He previously told NL News that a lack of policy and oversight played a major role in the excessive spending – including on big parties, high-end restaurants, luxury hotels, and expensive gifts – that continued for years.
“The TNRD board, our new CAO and senior staff, are acutely aware of the need for increased accountability, transparency, and communication,” Gillis said. “We have made strong and meaningful changes with more to come as part of our effort to regain our trust and confidence of the people we are honoured to represent.”
Some of those changes include a requirement for CAO expenses to be signed off by the chair or vice-chair as well as reducing the credit limit on the CAO’s credit card to $5,000, from the $30,000 when Gill was in charge. There is also an amended hospitality policy that limits expensing alcohol to two drinks (beer and wine only) per board event, and a new disclosure (whistleblower) policy aimed at providing employees with a safe and confidential means of reporting wrongdoing.
Gillis also said the creation of a policy review committee is in the works.
In revealing his support for a ‘fulsome’ third-party review, Gillis admitted it could take several months and cost a fair bit of money, but he’s hoping other TNRD directors vote in favour of it during the March 11 board meeting.
“I cannot imagine that they won’t approve it, but still it’s at the discretion of the board as to whether or not we do go ahead,” he added. “I believe it’s something that absolutely has to be done in light of recent revelations and I would hope that it would only take six weeks to two months, but I don’t know how long such a review takes.”
Current TNRD CAO Scott Hildebrand told NL News that taxpayers can be assured that he is not spending money the way his predecessor was.
“You look at each and every expense and you ask yourself if this is appropriate. And I think that’s what I need to instill in this organization,” Hildebrand said. “And from what I’ve seen, this management team and the entire team are very good, and we’ll continue to move forward.”
During his Monday press conference, Gillis said he doesn’t take personal responsibility for what happened at the TNRD while Gill was at the helm. Gillis was board chair for 14 months of Gill’s near-decade tenure as CAO.
“I had no idea and the rest of the board had no idea [of what] was being expensed. If it had continued, I guess we’d all have been responsible for it, but we are taking action on it, we have taken action on it, we will continue to take action on it,” he said.
He also reiterated that Gill’s expenses were not the reason for his sudden departure with a $500,000-plus severance package on Feb. 14, 2020, something Gillis again said he could not speak further about for privacy reasons.
Gillis did say though that it was ”unusual” for Gill to get a sizeable severance package and a legal agreement that required his departure be labelled a “retirement” and not a “dismissal.”
“It’s an unusual situation and I would dearly love to speak to it in more detail,” Gillis said. “I cannot.”