A Plank for a Better Platform
This space will be dedicated to planks in a platform that might provide the basis for improvements to our city and for our citizens. These may be taken from the context of either posts of comments elsewhere in the blog or added directly by our writers or readers. Planks should be kept short and sweet and where a greater development of the idea is required, a location for discussion will be provided. Please bear with us on this as a work in progress. At a later date we may be able to vote on the issues which we hold to be critical to effective change.
nanaimocityhall
Ron Bolin
gordfuller
sunnydan
I think more people should use this site to express ideas.
As I have said on my blog, I think Nanaimo could have a great future if we designed and built the first “Geriatric Theme Park”, complete with moving sidewalks and escalators to the top of the water slides and of course Geritol on tap everywhere.
“Build it and They WILL Come”.
Two items that are absolutely critical is a Core Services Review conducted by an outside consultant.
Zero based budgeting at least every three years which would eliminate the bloat that occurs as department managers keep squirreling away funds they aren’t spending.
Any candidate who makes these commitments had better take the time to get familiar with the arguments that will be raised against them, as the ‘lords’ at city hall defend their turf.
The City’s web site should contain on its front page a calendar which can be clicked, for any day to show the city sponsored meetings which are taking place on that day, ie Council meetings, FPCOW meetings, other Committee meetings, Commission meetings, holidays, etc. Virtually every newspaper now has such an application and it can be considered as a commodity item. It has been requested for some time. We need it now.
Minutes of Council, Committee, Commission and other city sponsored meetings should be available within two days of the relevant meeting. It is certain that these minutes are prepared in such a time frame and though they remain unapproved until the next meeting there is no reason to keep them from public view until two days before that approving meeting.
The city needs to develop a routine method for recording and regularly reporting complaints received from the public. This permits an overview of the public’s view of what in our community needs improvement, may contain advice on how such improvements can be made, and provides the public with the assurance that they are being heard, an important commodity.
City Council needs to adopt an open Town Hall meeting policy at least quarterly where they invite the public to ask questions of council and express concerns in an open two-way dialogue that encourages public participation in the process. It would also hold council more accountable and transparent.
Clearly, few people pay little attention to the process the way it is structured now and something needs changing.
A new Council should develop a “sunset” policy for the minutes of in-camera meetings. While there may certainly be reasons why secrecy needs to be practiced for some period of time, there is no reason why secrecy should be maintained forever: there is too much chance for the abuse of the practice.
The following correspondence with the City confirms that there is no legislation preventing such a policy.
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Ron,
You are correct that the City of Nanaimo does not have a policy regarding the release of minutes of in camera meetings. There are factors and legislation beyond the Community Charter and the Local Government Act, as well as many sections of those specific Statutes that could potentially come into play with regard to issues dealt with at an in camera meeting. As I have not done an exhaustive search of the legislation, I am not currently able to provide a conclusive response to the second part of your first question.
I am not aware of any legislation that would prevent such a policy.
Joan
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From: Ron Bolin [mailto:rlbolin@telus.net]
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2011 4:45 PM
To: Joan Harrison
Subject: Information Released from In-Camera Meetings
Hi Joan:
This is a very blunt policy, but at least it is a policy.
http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/mayorcouncil/inCamera_ReleaseInfo_byReleaseDate.htm
As I understand it there is currently no policy on the release of the minutes of in camera meetings at any point in time in Nanaimo, nor is the matter covered in the Community Charter or in the Local Government Act. Is this correct?
Is there any legislation which prevents such a policy?
Ron
Nanaimo needs to leave the “Hay” system of assessing Staff salaries in favour of local measures relating to local salaries, Staff performance, etc. The “Hay” system leads to spiraling salaries by introducing conditions outside Nanaimo and by relieving Council of their fundamental obligation to set policy for wages and salaries.
I made a Freedom Of Information request for the cost of Legal fees regarding the “buskers Bylaw trials and the Discovery process on July 22nd. When I went to get a copy of the Agenda today, i asked about my request. I was told the answer had been been mailed to me on September 2nd. the answer is that the City Of Nanaimo refuses to tell taxpayers just how much money has, and is being spent on legal issues, and court cases regarding the street Entertainers bylaw. The privacy of “The City Of Nanaimo” is being cited as the reason for the refusal to give out this information.I am a citizen of The City Of Nanaimo and I want to know how much the City Lawyers are being paid to take $25.00 busking fines to court.Anyone else want to know why this is privateinformation?
Anyone else care why you can’t find out what other options they were comparing before granting a $12 million contract to build a new office?
It appears they did not have ONE other tender to build a new building, and I presume in the good judgment of Mr. Kenning, this is a good practice when it comes to spending tax dollars.
It would further appear that council also thinks it is a good way to spend money.
We need far more openness and accountability, from council and staff, of course they know as well as anyone, that the general population simply don’t give a rip, unless it affects THEM directly.
Cathy, unless they actually have a lawyer on the City payroll or they have a contract with a lawyer the city will be paying current rates.
The city would be doing this to show the power they have, and as we are all aware cost is no object!
Jim the only way something is going to change on council, if there is a totally new council. No oldies left.
While I appreciate the comments coming in on this section of the blog, it is really meant for suggestions about activities which could form planks in the election platforms of candidates who are running for municipal election on Nov. 19. Perhaps I should set up an area specifically for complaints. I have suggested this above as an election plank for use at city hall. I will soon put one up here on the blog for specific complaints.
Ron, it would be reasonable to draw from my comment, that an acceptable plank would be to demonstrate the ability to introduce best practices into the city purchasing policy.
I realize, that would be asking a lot from most of the candidates I have seen, on this present council and in years past.
Jim. Thanks for modifying your comment into a policy question which can be asked of candidates. Like several of my own suggestions, however, it might be necessary to explain a bit more what you mean by “best practices”. I believe that any candidate could respond positively to the question whether they would support “best practices”, but would they know what this means and thus be able to pursue it as a goal? Could you expand on this a bit?
Ron; best practices is perhaps one of the most self explanatory buzz phrases there is.
An example of a best practice when building a new building would be to get at least 3 quotes from qualified contractors and then making your decision.
An example of a poor practice would be asking one contractor how much to build a building and another person how much to rent, and then giving the contract to the lone building contractor.
Another example of a poor practice would be telling the contracting community how much you intend to spend on a new water treatment plant, rather than going to tender.
Lynn’s comment about a complete change required in Council is the one comment that makes sense.Ron,I am surprised that a man of your obvious intelligence can’t seem to grasp this fundamental concept,but rather choose to flail away at windmills such as ‘minutes of meetings in 2 days’ and ‘website calendar of meetings’.These are not PLANKS,they are WOOD CHIPS.With respect to recording and reporting of complaints,this is a silly idea because it will require another one or more CUPE positions added to the bloated payroll.What taxpayer in his right mind would want to pay for this frivolous activity,it being not even a wood chip but a SLIVER.Eliminating the Hay System,now that is a very good policy and would be great for the taxpayers.But it will not happen because it is good for the taxpayer and bad for the bureaurocracy,and the records show what happens with these ideas.
I have no problem with a complete change of Council, but I do have a couple of questions:
1) How do you propose to accomplish this? and 2) How do we know that a new one would be better? I seem to remember a couple of old sayings like: “Out of the frying pan and into the fire.” or “Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.” It is this kind of “knock out punch” that characterizes our present Council: If only we had a Conference Centre… if only we had a development corporation, etc. Turning a big ship around is not a matter of reversing the engines.
And I am surprised that you think that City Staff is so fully occupied that to have the secretaries record complaints would overload them. Of course I am reminded that when I asked Human Resources about the percentage of time which is allocated as slack time for Staff, I was told that there is none. I did not and do not believe it.
Ron,you will recall that a couple of years ago,or so,there were the meetings at the Vault.It was my understanding that the intent was to identify and recruit good candidates to run for council in Nov.2011.Had this initiative taken root,and been successful,there may well have been a good chance to elect new people.But it wasn’t to be as the majority of the initial group was more interested in blogging.While that was an interesting aside, it did nothing to promote good candidates and thus we remain in the same state of mediocrity as we were when I moved to this town 20 years ago.
Your comment about “how do we know that a new one (council) would be any better” is quite astounding to me.Let me ask,how the hell could it be any worse? (Well,I guess we could get Jeet back).I’ve followed your comments,and those of others, and it seems there is a clear consensus of opinion that the present group has been,and is being,lead around by the professional staff.As a council,they do not have any FRESH IDEAS and indeed routinely vote down anything that might appear to be a new concept.
As far as the ‘complaint’ initiative is concerned,not only will the calls have to be answered,but also listened to,sorted into category,typed, photocopied,distributed to 25 staff & council members,filed away in multiple locations etc.This should keep a couple of new CUPE workers busy at $75K per year each in wages and benefits,processing complaints about late garbage pick-ups,barking dogs,pot holes,water restrictions,unsightly premises etc.,but taking no action to correct them.Time for some better ideas Ron,and leave the make-work projects to others!
I agree with Wayne. A council is supposedly elected to represent the people of this city. By the time any taxpayers gets to council they have five or ten minutes to speak about their issue. The issue is a done deal before you get to speak, if you dont get interrupted.One cant lobby a whole council in five or ten minutes, especially if the agenda is not out until sometimes the Friday before!
A solid platform would be, to first inform the citizens of what MUST be done and then let them speak. too often we are informed by newspaper articles that paint a pretty picture or inflame the masses.
There is no transparency,no real communication with citizens, often no tenders for work to be done.
How about a platform that says we will do the most important things for the welfare of citizens, roads, maintenance of infrastructure and only projects that are absolutely necessary in times of no money?(like our current economic climate)
How about a platform that says when we make bylaws, we will be far sighted about it. How about we check out all the legalities surrounding bylaws before the deal is done? Why are we not allowed to know what the cost of litigation is in Nanaimo? It is our money!
Then we would not have a whole meeting dedicated to a problem like we saw last Monday. those poor people on both sides have been bandied about like a bad joke. They move in with one zoning, then developers and others turn everything topsy turvey so that residents are pitted against each other. How about a platfiorm that says we will stand by our vision statement?
How about a platform that says our job is to listen to you, the taxpayer, and do the best job we can with the money we have to do it!
Hi Cathy: Please read my response to Wayne. I agree with much of what you say, but how do we change it. The only agencies which appear to work to get their candidates and thus their views represented on Council are the Chamber of Commerce, the Labour Council and the Home Builders Association. There are no grass roots organizations backing candidates.
Transparency is a serious problem. It will not come without numerous and repeated requests for information from Council and for direction from the provincial government to require transparency. These are very important issues but they are disguised as small matters and shoved aside.
We do not have problems in identifying problems in Nanaimo, but what we need are ideas about how to solve them. There is a big difference between recognizing a problem and solving it.
My reason for saying change the council is from what I read none of the members of council are doing a terrific job. Start all over and see if a new council is any better. Council is accountable to the people of this city, but what defines accountable. I don’t believe it means access to every piece of paper or decision and how they made it.
From the little I have read about though, this council has very little accountablitiy to the people of the city. The hold an AAP in the middle of summer when an election is close. Even the Provincial government said this was an ‘iffy’ decision. They are asking for money yet not really sure of the cost.
Perhaps these council members are too afraid to make a decision for the majority rather than the minority.
Has anyone heard about the new Economic Development person and the board that is to oversee them? Its been a number of months and no words about who was hired and who is on the board.
OK. OK. But I have to go back to the major question. How do we get a new Council? Who do we get behind? If I had the answer I would shout it out. But I don’t. The idea of the blog was to try to identify issues and, with them, candidates who would raise them. In this it has been a failure. Issues require a good deal more definition than simply wishing that Nanaimo was different than it is (and maybe it is not all that different.) Possible candidates haven’t latched onto issues and run with them. In fact, many don’t even throw their real names in the ring. We are showing every sign of again having the kind of non-election that we have had in the past. No defined issues, no debate, no up front organization. Just another selection of new and old loose cannons courtesy of the same old factions. If I had the answer, I’d give it. If anyone out there has it, please let your fellow citizens know. Today is the 19th of September. On November 19 it will all be over again for the next three years. But at least as a result of the decision at this afternoon’s FPCOW meeting they will be three years with significantly better pay for our Councillors.
Wayne said:
“there were the meetings at the Vault.It was my understanding that the intent was to identify and recruit good candidates to run for council in Nov.2011.”
Would it be reasonable to assume, that given the inability to identify or recruit good candidates in nearly 3 years, that we already have the cream of the crop to choose from??
Please allow me to clarify my opinion on the make-up of the current City Council.I do not think that every sitting member is unworthy.Assuming that they stand again for election,I intend to vote for (listed in alphabetical order) Bill Bestwick,Jim Kipp,Fred Pattje and Loyd Sherry.Concerning Ron’s point,and Jim’s,in my opinion these 4 individuals deserve re-election,and indeed may be the best we can expect.They probably will be re-elected,as will the retired fireman because he will have the vote of every firefighter,their spouses,family members and other union members.I recall his main “plank” was to have his union to grow (ie:more firefighters) and become more influential (as if they are not already growing and not very influential,which they most certainly are).If Jeet runs he also has a good chance of being elected because of his constituency and his ability of get them to the polls to vote.I will not vote for any of the other sitting councilors or Mayor John (“it’s so difficult”) Ruttan,but he will probably prevail unless Bestwick runs for Mayor.
On Jim’s other comment on identifying and recruiting good candidates,it wasn’t so much the ‘inability’ (it’s possible) but rather the tepid interest (little,if any) of the parties at the time.For example,I think Jim Taylor would be an outstanding candidate for council and I hope he runs.Gordon Fuller also.
My question to everyone is what exactly are you looking for in a council person.This I am not sure of. We need council people that are thinking how to get the businesses going here, how to create jobs that are more that just $10.00 an hours so people can support their families on one job. We need to get out of the way it was for business and lookat what is here that will provide new jobs. I know some people on this blog do not want a cruise ship to stop here. But these people will pay good dollars to take some tours, see the sites. What is here to build on. What can we do to think outside the box. What have other cities done to recreate themselves.
I don’t see anything wrong with the Chamber for example. What should be good for them, should help all of the city. They are all about business. Unless this Chamber is different.
Someone needs to get the papers going and have them ask the hard questions to the candidates.
Lynn: I hope nobody on the blog is against the cruise ships coming to Nanaimo. I know I don’t. But I do have questions about whether the $24 million spent on the dock and landing centre could have been better spent. I see that another one will come in soon. This will bring the cost of each landing to $6 million. While each new landing will reduce the per landing cost, I have to wonder if the money would not have been better spent by driving a truck through the downtown area shoveling money off the back. It would soon be spent in the local economy creating jobs and if used creatively could bring more people downtown.
Nor, I believe is anyone against the chamber. It is simply the old story of the battle of the body parts, where each part argues its own importance while the body suffers.
But it is your last suggestion, I believe, which puts the meat on the table. We all need to write to the papers, the radio stations, local tv and yes, even the lowly blogs, to get them going on asking the hard questions. If you have been here in previous elections you will know that this never happens. And even the easy questions get covered off in a few sentences and/or minutes. You, I and everyone in town are the somebodies that can make the newspapers and the candidates work for their right to be our representatives.
Hi Lynn;
All great questions, have been asked in Nanaimo as long as I have been here, and so far, the only major attempt to recreate ourselves resulted in a $75 million conference centre downtown. I doubt if you will find many (if any) people who can tell you exactly what Nanaimo is suppsed to be?? For a good long time now it has been the retail hub for central and upper vancouver island. That is changing as Duncan and the Comox valley, recreate themselves.
Aside from government, there are very few family supporting jobs in Nanaimo, and even the spin off business from cruise ships are not likely to create those type of jobs either. Tour operators are not known for paying family supporting wages.
Now, before we veer way off topic here, this would be an excellent plank, and in fact could be an entire platform is some forward thinking, out of the box type could present a vision for the future of Nanaimo that nol only sounds good, but is actually possible.
On your suggestion that we need an entire new council, I would disagree on the basis that an entire council made up of green horns would be like sheep to the wolves when city hall management ‘educated’ them on what their duties and functions should be. In case you are not too familiar, the most important function city council performs, is provide a shield so that city hall staff don’t have to be accountable for what they do.
Jim: I think we are unlikely to get a whole new Council as the incumbent advantage in Nanaimo is very powerful and while people may not enter municipal politics for the money, once they have it they find it very hard to give up.
We have the agencies in place to evaluate economic alternatives, but somehow cannot seem to be able to use them effectively. I am not sure whether this is deliberate or by default. It will be interesting to see if the new economic development corporation will be able to make some ground here where the old group couldn’t seem to break out of their old service / retirement centre thinking. Then again, maybe we need to figure out how to make that work effectively. While I don’t consider Nanaimo’s playing a suburb role to Vancouver as an effective strategy, I know those who do and perhaps we need, among other things, an examination of how this might work. Hopefully the new Economic Development Corporation will perform this function before we lock ourselves into subsidizing a foot ferry service.
In reality I know that we can not have an all new council, but you need council members that are questioning what is happening and demanding the answers. Although if you did get some people in there that can think for themselves they would not fall into the trap of what the Senior Managers are tell them. They would find out by doing some investigation themselves.
Where is this Economic Development person that has been hired. I saw the ad and can only guess that someone has been hired. (it’s been months now) Yet we have not heard any more. This person if they are worth their salary should have been hired based on the fact that they can actuall get some development going here. Development that is more than homes for seniors, and I am one so I feel free to say this.
As far as the conference Centre goes, someone needs to get their butt out there and start selling it. If we finally start get some ‘conferences’ there then the pressure will be on for the hotels to do some cleanup also.
All I know is we need to look beyond the traditional coal mining, forestry, etc related industries to get ourselves going again.
I can not believe that our mayor has not been kicking and screaming about the lack of jobs, but I guess they think if most of the people moving here are retired jobs are not important.
NOT true Mr. Mayor
The new head of the Economic Development Corporation has been hired. She is to start work in October.
http://www.canada.com/Nanaimo+Economic+Development+Corporation+hires+first+chief/5350246/story.html
We need to wish her well.
I have put together a starting list of questions that I would like as of all candidates:
1. In these particularly tough economic times how would you prioritize how city money is spent and why?
2. How could you help make the numerous committees the city relies on more effective and productive?
3. Being part of Nanaimo city council is more than just reading your info package and attending City council meetings. Do you really know what you are getting into? Tell us how you know.
4. How do you model good citisenship, other than being an active member of the community?
5. If you are scrupulous about conflicts of interest with your business and financial interests, what kinds of projects would you recuse yourself from as a Council member? Specific examples please.
6. If elected, would you require City staff to, in every report, report on what would happen if key project assumptions they or an outside consultant use are wrong? If you say no, explain why.
7. Will you be vigilant to see that staff and outside consultant information provided in reports does not include unsupported opinions?
8. What expenses in the City budget will you propose reducing or eliminating?
9. What are your ideas to increase economic development in Nanaimo? Give 2 spedific examples.
10. How do you differ from the other candidates in this race?
11. For incumbents: What city council decision do you regret the most or would you change with information you have now? What decision are you most proud of? Why?
For challengers: What city council decision in recent years do you disagree with the most and wwhy? What decisions do you agree with and why?
12. What do you think are the most important issues facing the city over the next 2 years?
I realize these starting questions are not about specific issues but for me they tell me alot about the person and how they are headed. Please feel free to add to this list.
A good start, Lynn. Let’s get a catalogue of questions put together. And work on how to get candidates to respond publicly to them.
I would like to email a list of questions to the newspaper editor asking them to ask these questions. I am sure at public forums we are limited to the number of questions we can as. So we can divide the questions up between people to get the questions asked.
In Nanaimo public forums are very closely manipulated to reduce the chances of untidy democracy breaking out. Questions are usually selected by some hand picked body and response times are so short that no real response is possible. There is no public debate. Candidate web sites are erected for the election and then closed down thereafter so that the elected need not continue the conversation for three more years. Perhaps we need to get our local radio stations involved in interviewing candidates. And how about Shaw Cable. How can we create a venue which encourages both candidate and public participation in the most important municipal decisions which citizens make? Ideas?
I think Shaw Cable would be a good option. I don’t know about here but where I moved from they would have the candidates come in an interview them on one of their programs. I have not watched the Shaw channel here, so not aware of what it does.
I still think the newspaper and I also think the radio would be good.
This is more of a suggestion for creating some revenue and some enthusiasm for our city.
Victoria has a “Tourist in your own town” every year in late March to kick off the tourist season. A great way for hotels, vendors, local artists to show the wares and work out any kinks before their big season starts. Money has been spent developing downtown but people who live here still do not appreciate the gem they have in their own city. Take the ideas right from Victoria’s plan which is very successful (copy and paste). I think people would be surprised on the quality and originality of the products, local food, shops and activities we have here in Nanaimo.
Also throughout Europe and many other countries cities promote a “City Card”. A one to three day pass that gives the person for example, unlimited transit pass, discounts on museums, outdoor activities (Wildplay), and much more. Again we can look at one cities offers and copy and paste something for us here to promote. The Brugge city pass in Belgium is an excellent example.
Thanks for having this blog to share ideas!
@ Shannon Reading
Bastion Square, Trounce Alley, Inner Harbour . . .
VICTORIA “. . . gem they have in their own city”
YOU BET!
@ Shannon Reading . . .
Fan Tan Alley . . . Chinatown too . . .