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First Report from Newly Elected Workshop in Richmond

Jim Harker, Tina Lange, Terry Lake, and myself are in Richmond for the next two days to attend the Union of BC Municipalities Seminar for Newly Elected Officials.

When I was first elected, it was strongly recommended by city administration and by the returning councillors that we take this training. So, I am here. And it looks like it will be very worthwhile.  We will be attending seminars on legal issues, policy creation, communicating with the rest of the community, budget making and financial issues, land uses issues, and public hearings.

So, we flew down here this late afternoon. We already attended an interesting seminar with information on meeting dynamics and procedures. This was run by Eli Mina.

The basic jist of Mr. Mina's talk was that a good structure of rules of operation are very useful in a Council meeting. He emphasized that it is our duty, as elected officals, to attempt to provide exemplary leadership in our communties - I would rephrase that for myself as exemplary representation. He went through a whole range of issues such as making motions, points of order, and the responsibility to provide new and unique information that will lead to better decisions. His motto is "suffering is optional".

Council Meeting Feb 7th 2006 - recap

Mr. Henry Uyeda invited us to help promote the Kamloops Judo Club renowned  International Judo Tournaments. Council  proclaimed White Cane Week and Nature Trust of British Columbia Year. Claude  Richmond, Kamloops MLA and BC Minister of Employment and Income Assistance presented to us the activities of his  ministry, focusing in on local activities.  Minister Richmond announced the existence of  a new program called the Kamloops  Integration Program. We directed staff to look for a  solution to the water rate issues at the Panorama Village condo complex.

We authorized public hearings for rezoning applications for 770-774 Victoria Street and 7545 Dallas Drive. We also authorized a pubic hearing on a bylaw pertaining to fabric covered buildings.  We raised some of the fees for property information typically requested by lawyers on behalf of their clients. We put in a requirement for construction companies bidding on larger city contracts to attain Gold Seal certification.

We awarded a joint design team from Urban Systems and Stantec Consulting the contract to design the route planning for the flushing of all water mains in the City - this is to keep the water from the new water treatment clean as it works its way to homes and buildings. We also approved a Parks and Rec commission recommendation to fund a noxious weed control program in Kamloops.

We approved a $5000 travel limit per Councillor per year and rescinded a policy that funded a Councillor's spouse trip to the UBCM convention.

We approved the  provision of free bus tickets, through the United Way, to very low income people. We heard funding requests from Kamloops Search & Rescue and the Kamloops Skate Park Committee. We wrote letters to ask the provincial government to restore core funding to BC Women Centres, to the Federal government asking them to increase funding to local RCMP detachments. We asked staff to look in to complaints from North Shore resident Morgan Hunt regarding friendiness to people in wheelchairs. 

Council Workshop Last week...

Been a looooong day of Council meetings today. I am working on getting a meeting recap written. Last week, as I mentioned earlier, we had a workshop style meeting. With this type of meeting, we are not allowed to pass any motions (make any decisions). Instead, we take a little longer than we can normally to focus in on specific issues of interest and concern. We discussed a possible pesticide bylaw, expanded transit service, council travel expenses, and a host of other issues.

I understand that workshops are regular occurrences on the Council workshop schedule. To me, the first workshop I attended was a great experience and a critical opportunity to explore issues in more depth.