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Community members generate guidance
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| PUBLIC CONVERSATION: Merrilee Prior [from left], Graham Cocksedge, Ruth Dayon and Alison Taplay engaged in a conversation during a public consultation event on October 19. (laura walz photo) |
Public consultation event attracts about 125 residents
by Laura Walz | editor@prpeak.com
A public dialogue about the community’s future generated 76 topics for discussion.
Residents were invited to participate in conversation and create an agenda at a public consultation event held on Monday, October 19. Led by facilitator Geoff Allan, approximately 125 people offered their thoughts and suggestions.
The City of Powell River is facing uncertain financial circumstances, with Catalyst Paper Corporation’s decision to withhold property taxes. Allan explained at the beginning of the meeting that council has said it needs the community’s guidance. “There is no other agenda,” he said. “You decide what we’re going to talk about.”
Allan then posed a statement. “When considering the future of Powell River and the ongoing financial challenges, we need to pay attention to...” The topics were generated by people who completed the statement.
Next, people chose three topics they wished to discuss with others. The meeting broke into small groups and notes from the discussion were recorded by one person in each group.
The raw data compiled at Monday’s event has been posted on the City of Powell River’s website, www.powellriver.ca. Allan is preparing a detailed report and analysis, which he will present to council at the November 5 committee-of-the-whole meeting.
The city has also prepared a short survey focusing on city services. It is available on the city’s website, in city hall, the Powell River Public Library and the Powell River Recreation Complex.
A survey focusing on youth priorities was circulated to grades 11 and 12 at Brooks Secondary School.
The meeting and the surveys are the beginning of a process, said Mayor Stewart Alsgard. “The challenge of today’s issues will be to find some solutions which are attainable and reasonable for everyone,” he said. “That’s a pretty big thing to go after, but it’s about trying to bring our citizens together about the ups and downs of where we need to go in order to move forward.”
Alsgard said he wants to carry on with the process and he has organized another public consultation event, from 7 to 9 pm on Monday, December 14 in Dwight Hall. “It will enable us to close the loop on the public consultation process,” he said. “It’s not a repeat of what we’ve done, but to expand on much of this, with a view to looking at what the initial survey has brought in and to building a much larger attendance in a very similar format.”
The whole process is about public dialogue and discussion, Alsgard said. “It’s about the possibilities of change,” he said. “It’s about taking a look at the innovations in the delivery of our services, with the reality that there isn’t a huge, bottomless pit of money. We have to manage as effectively as we can and as positively as we can with what we have.”
While the October 19 meeting brought forward a lot of conceptual ideas, Alsgard added, he thinks the process has to now focus on “some hard ideas and see where we go from there.”
The city is also proposing to consult specifically with business representatives, on November 12.
Dave Douglas, the city’s director of financial services, reported at the October 15 committee-of-the-whole budget meeting that managers are preparing 2010 budgets for their departments, with the same level of service as in 2009. Meanwhile, council will be giving further direction on the 2010 budget as a result of the public consultation. Managers will have operating budgets ready by November 13 and capital budgets by November 20.
Residents were invited to participate in conversation and create an agenda at a public consultation event held on Monday, October 19. Led by facilitator Geoff Allan, approximately 125 people offered their thoughts and suggestions.
The City of Powell River is facing uncertain financial circumstances, with Catalyst Paper Corporation’s decision to withhold property taxes. Allan explained at the beginning of the meeting that council has said it needs the community’s guidance. “There is no other agenda,” he said. “You decide what we’re going to talk about.”
Allan then posed a statement. “When considering the future of Powell River and the ongoing financial challenges, we need to pay attention to...” The topics were generated by people who completed the statement.
Next, people chose three topics they wished to discuss with others. The meeting broke into small groups and notes from the discussion were recorded by one person in each group.
The raw data compiled at Monday’s event has been posted on the City of Powell River’s website, www.powellriver.ca. Allan is preparing a detailed report and analysis, which he will present to council at the November 5 committee-of-the-whole meeting.
The city has also prepared a short survey focusing on city services. It is available on the city’s website, in city hall, the Powell River Public Library and the Powell River Recreation Complex.
A survey focusing on youth priorities was circulated to grades 11 and 12 at Brooks Secondary School.
The meeting and the surveys are the beginning of a process, said Mayor Stewart Alsgard. “The challenge of today’s issues will be to find some solutions which are attainable and reasonable for everyone,” he said. “That’s a pretty big thing to go after, but it’s about trying to bring our citizens together about the ups and downs of where we need to go in order to move forward.”
Alsgard said he wants to carry on with the process and he has organized another public consultation event, from 7 to 9 pm on Monday, December 14 in Dwight Hall. “It will enable us to close the loop on the public consultation process,” he said. “It’s not a repeat of what we’ve done, but to expand on much of this, with a view to looking at what the initial survey has brought in and to building a much larger attendance in a very similar format.”
The whole process is about public dialogue and discussion, Alsgard said. “It’s about the possibilities of change,” he said. “It’s about taking a look at the innovations in the delivery of our services, with the reality that there isn’t a huge, bottomless pit of money. We have to manage as effectively as we can and as positively as we can with what we have.”
While the October 19 meeting brought forward a lot of conceptual ideas, Alsgard added, he thinks the process has to now focus on “some hard ideas and see where we go from there.”
The city is also proposing to consult specifically with business representatives, on November 12.
Dave Douglas, the city’s director of financial services, reported at the October 15 committee-of-the-whole budget meeting that managers are preparing 2010 budgets for their departments, with the same level of service as in 2009. Meanwhile, council will be giving further direction on the 2010 budget as a result of the public consultation. Managers will have operating budgets ready by November 13 and capital budgets by November 20.
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