Important Budget Presentations Today and Tomorrow
Ron Bolin: Jan. 16, 2012
Calling all Retirees, unemployed persons, night Shift workers, and other citizens who have their afternoons free: Join our City Council for a budget presentation at the City Hall boardroom at 3pm today, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. This session of the Finance and Policy Committee of the whole (Council as a whole) will hear from the Port Theatre asking for additional funding and be given budget presentations by the Fire Department, the Police Services Department (the City Staff who serve the RCMP), and the Strategic Relationships Department. Delegations concerning these matters can be presented without the necessity of prior application and there will be an opportunity to ask questions about the matters presented. Please note that these presentations are prepared for our City Council and are therefore aimed at a level of financial sophistication comparable to that of the average citizen. One does not need to be an accountant or a financier to get the general drift of what is being planned by each department and the amount of money which will be spent for their various programs and projects. One may -or may not- find that these represent the direction which you would like to see our City take. Now is your time to look, learn and question.
The agenda for Monday’s 3pm meeting is available at:
In case you missed last Tuesday’s FPCOW budget presentations, i.e. the Parks, Recreation and Culture Department and the Engineering and Public Works Department, copies of the overheads presented are available at:
http://www.nanaimo.ca/EN/main/departments/Finance/budget-financial-reports.html
This page also accesses the set of budget and Financial Plan information which is available on-line. Remember these meetings, along with some upcoming Council meetings, are the public’s chance to review and comment on the way our $160 million dollars will be spent in 2012, i.e. over $1800 for every man, woman and child in Nanaimo.
Note too that this page also allows access to the “Budget Forum” on the left side of the page. The forum allows citizens to ask questions about the budget to which City Staff respond. This is also a way to find the kinds of questions which your fellow citizens are asking, as well as the responses from the City. Please note that if you submit a question it may take a day or two for Staff to respond.
The final Departmental budget presentations are scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, also in the City Hall Board Room, but at 1:30pm.
Posts and Comments on Nanaimo Governance 
So how many members of the public showed up to these earlier than usual meetings? Between these and council’s reticence at not holding “In Camera” meetings when it is not absolutely required one has to wonder just how open and transparent they want to be.