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Council debates governance structure By Liz Dadson |
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Governance structure was the first issue of discussion for the newly-sworn-in Kincardine council Wednesday night (Dec. 1). Chief administrative officer John deRosenroll introduced three options, including the current hybrid committee system, a tri-committee system, and a committee-of-the-whole system. Staff recommended the committee-of-the-whole model because it provides greater efficiency and effectiveness in local government. "The municipality is over a decade old and it is now time to evoke changes to our governance system," says deRosenroll. "Council is the elected representative of the public and its view and decisions need to be reflected in all policy decisions. The current system uses a series of committees which discuss issues and then reports to committee-of-the-whole, said deRosenroll. The issue is then discussed, with recommendations made to council for resolution. It's basically a three-tier resolution model augmented by staff reports. This system requires each council member to attend 92 meetings per year. It allows for more public participation and has been the historical model of governance. On the downside, it is more time-consuming, requires more administrative work and is more fragmented, meaning some council members may feel they are not equally informed on important issues. The tri-committee system is equally as complicated, using three master policy committees which discuss issues and report to committee-of-the-whole. The issues are then discussed, with recommendations to council. Under this system, each council member would attend 67 meetings per year. It's a more efficient system but tends to be as fragmented as the current committee model. A committee-of-the-whole system allows all issues to be presented to all members of council in committee-of-the-whole, where they are discussed and recommendations made to council. It's basically a two-tier resolution model augmented by staff reports. Under this system, each council member would attend 54 meetings per year. It's a more efficient system with less administrative work required, and all of council discusses and resolves all policy issues. It allows council to focus on key policy and governance issues. However, because this system is more centralized, some people feel it does not reach the grassroots level of the public. "This is a big decision for any new council," said deRosenroll. "It sets the foundation for the structure of governance for the next four years. We will have to discuss it further, beyond tonight, and make a decision. But we want to make sure we get it right." As an example of how the committee-of-the-whole system would work, deRosenroll explained that the public works manager would bring a report to all of council which would then make the policy decision. At a subsequent council meeting, a council vote would be taken on that recommended decision. Under the current system, the public works manager's report would go to the public works committee which would then send a recommendation to council in committee-of-the-whole. From there, a resolution would go to council to be voted on later. The tri-committee system is much the same as the current model, said deRosenroll. Councillor Ron Coristine said it's important to look at an efficient system but council cannot discount public input. He asked deRosenroll what level of community participation is in each model. The current system has 112 members of the public involved, and nine members of council; the tri-committee system would have 48 members of the public and nine council; and the committee-of-the-whole system would have 42 members of the public and nine council. "I'm used to a committee-of-the-whole system and there is plenty of public participation," said deputy mayor Anne Eadie. "Community groups can talk directly to council, not through a committee first. I'm not that concerned about public participation - there's lots of opportunity." Councillor Maureen Couture agreed, saying the former Town of Kincardine operated under such a system. In response to her question, deRosenroll said that members of council could be put in charge of various policy areas, such as public works or planning or corporate services. That councillor would then be responsible to ensure that sufficient information comes to council to make decisions. Mayor Larry Kraemer said that Bruce County council operates on a committee-of-the-whole system and it works well because all of council hears all the issues at the same time.
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He said one of the major disadvantages of the current system is that it often leaves councillors thinking that decisions were made without them. Councillor Randy Roppel disagreed and said the current system is preferable because it allows the most public participation. "It's
not perfect," he said, "but it's been proven over and over to provide a
voice to the public that we represent. The other two systems do not
have public input unless people come to council and make a
presentation. It's not a good atmosphere to start." Kraemer said the committee-of-the-whole system would be more accountable and accommodating than the current system. "The public comes to council looking for decisions and then they get referred to a committee," he said. "They get frustrated trying to get through the system and back to council. The committee-of-the-whole model is much more responsive." Councillor Mike Leggett agreed, saying it's even more frustrating for volunteers who spend hours putting a recommendation together only to have it turned down by council in a matter of 20 minutes. "This is about efficiency," he said. "The issues come to council and we make decisions. We shouldn't be sending people down a long red-tape trail. Councillor Jacqueline Faubert said having been through the process when trying to establish a dog park in Kincardine, she understands the need to streamline that process. She asked how that issue would have been handled under a committee-of-the-whole system. According to deRosenroll, the dog park idea would have been presented to council in committee-of-the-whole, under the recreation department. A recommendation would then go to council to vote on at the next meeting. On more complicated issues, he said, a report would come from the department manager - in this case, the recreation director. Kraemer said committee-of-the-whole could also have staff take the issue to an advisory board or committee for further discussion and then it would come back to council right away. Faubert said the only weakness in a new governance system is that it requires good communication. "People need to know what's going on in an adequate timeframe," she said. "I don't believe the current communication system accommodates that." The public is given lots of notice of meetings, said deRosenroll. The meetings are also televised on cable, and the media reports them on a regular basis. Councillor Kenneth Craig said he would support the committee-of-the-whole system, but would want to slow down the reaction time between the committee-of-the-whole recommendation and the council vote to ensure people know what's going on. "There's nothing saying that there is only a week between the two," said Couture. "We could make time for an open house or a public meeting to inform people." Kraemer said that the committee-of-the-whole system does not preclude having citizen committees and ad hoc committees for public input. However, those would report directly to all of council. He added that one distinct advantage to this system is that the media is always present for meetings, ensuring they are fully open and transparent. Council will continue discussing governance at the next meeting Dec. 8. Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
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