Comment
Let’s go
It’s time to get back to work. By the time the new mayor and council gather for the first time, Shire Hall will have been without oversight for 70 days. While the pause may be welcome to some, it leaves a lengthy gap in public accountability. Besides, there is much to do.
Among its first decisions will surely be how Council conducts business. During the first 12 years of its current formation, County Council intersected with residents, investors, and agencies through four standing committees: planning, works, finance and community services. (The names and responsibilities shifted from time to time, but they generally covered the County’s four core businesses.)
As such, folks brought their issues, concerns and plights to the relevant committee.
Rather than having 14 council members pore over the same files, maps, and numbers and ask the same questions, a smaller committee, typically made up of five members, including a chair, would review the merits of the arguments and recommend a course of action to Council. It was efficient. Standing committees moved through files quickly. Processed files quickly. Residents felt their voices mattered.
It was also effective. Standing committee members developed a robust working knowledge of the legislation and regulations governing their committee’s responsibilities. They could explore files in depth, rather than scratch the surface with 14 questions and a round of follow- ups. They had the time and focus to work through dense files.
Folks on the planning committee became proficient in provincial land use guardrails and the County’s official plan. Through their work on the finance committee, councillors interested in the municipality’s fiscal health regularly scrutinized its operating statements and balance sheets.
It proved an effective way to divide and conquer the vast and complex workload of a single-tier municipality, where oversight ranges from playground equipment to multimillion- dollar infrastructure projects.
Council abandoned standing committees for Committee of the Whole in 2010. Matters debated at standing committees were frequently relitigated at council, stretching meetings into the wee hours. Other remedies were available, but trust among councillors was at a low ebb. Council’s solution was to give everyone a seat at every decision- making table, ensuring all views were given voice. Thus, Committee of the Whole.
Now every councillor can—and regularly does—weigh in on every issue, whether they have relevant expertise, a dog in the hunt or just idle curiosity. The result is scattershot questioning, not scrutiny: 14 council members pulling in different directions without ever getting beneath the surface.
It is how Council spent five years chasing infrastructure plans it could not afford, how spending spiralled and how debt reached record levels. Too many cooks. Too little focus.
The County clerk understood the problem four years ago. Catalina Blumenberg proposed a hybrid system. A couple of smaller committees, with the rest in the realm of the collective, along with a bevy of advisory committees.
In one of its first decisions, the outgoing council rejected the Clerk’s proposal without demonstrating a clear understanding of either the challenge ahead or the opportunity her solution offered. (The December 20, 2022 meeting was livestreamed and remains available for anyone who would like to form their own impression.)
If they had to do it over again, looking back on the past four years, I want to believe Council would now embrace a new way of conducting County business.
For standing committees to work, they need clear ground rules. Presentations and deputations take place only at standing committee meetings, where outside opinions are gathered. Council meetings are for councillors and the mayor to debate, deliberate and make decisions. Efficiently. Effectively.
To make this happen, work must begin now. This week. Returning council members should reach out to newly elected members and begin a conversation. Everyone wants to do better. Build better habits from the start.
Comments (0)