City of Powell River’s committee of the whole had a discussion on how it deals with the correspondence that it receives from the community.
At the November 30 committee meeting, councillors reviewed 20 pieces of correspondence that have been received from September 1 to November 25 regarding a possible name change for the city.
A motion to note and file the correspondence was introduced.
Councillor Maggie Hathaway asked if this correspondence is going to be shared with the city committee that has been struck to look into a possible name change.
Mayor Dave Formosa said it was discussed that at some point the correspondence would be gathered and shared.
“I’m hoping once the process starts to move out into the community that people will have a pretty good idea of what it is we are doing,” said Formosa.
Hathaway said that the correspondence could just be noted and filed then.
Formosa said he was sure the information would all be gathered and passed on to the possible name change committee.
Committee chair councillor George Doubt said he went through all of the items of correspondence and wanted to point out that they overwhelmingly were in favour of a name change.
“Very few people were commenting on whether they wanted a referendum or not,” said Doubt. “I’ve taken the time to read them and that’s what I got out of this block of correspondence. We’re still getting it regularly from people and I hope they participate in the joint working group we have going on to lead us to a process of coming to the right answer.”
Councillor Jim Palm said there were numbers in favour of name change, however, a lot of those letters are form letters, some of which don’t have addresses.
“I’m not sure where they come from,” said Palm. “I know there are a couple of very well-written letters and it’s a shame they won’t be read out. I’m concerned that the people who take the time to write these letters are not assured that somewhere along the line their letter is going to appear in front of the committee. I have trouble with that.
“I know my phone has been ringing quite a bit and I’m not fielding a lot of phone calls in favour.”
Process is just beginning, says mayor
Formosa said he had just stated the letters were going to be taken to the name change committee. He said at committee of the whole, letters are typically not read out.
“We get letters, they get filed,” said Formosa. “When we get to a situation on a bylaw, a variance, or something in that regard, then those letters are put into a report, and that’s when you read them. We are at the beginning of a process, which is a communication/education process in which the people of Powell River will have a say. It’s a process that we will be going through with the whole community.
“I speak to people every day who are against it or for it and I explain to them what the committee is up to and they have told me, ‘great’. We did not say to bury these things. We’ve just started, so hang on. It’s not going to be a process that is done in two weeks. We need to get out and explain why the name Powell is hurtful to our neighbours. We are going to have a discussion with the public and at the end of that, a decision will be made.”
Councillor Cindy Elliott, who is a member of the possible renaming committee, said she is sure the input received will be compiled, and the letters will be part of that.
“All methods of input from the public on this particular matter will be part and parcel of how we compile that input and make decisions in the future,” said Elliott.
Doubt said he hoped other councillors do as he does and read the correspondence.
“I read every letter that comes in,” said Doubt. “To councillor Palm’s comment, I give letters different weight. When I see a form letter copied by a number of people, I give it a different weight than an individual letter that someone has taken the time to compose by themselves. I take all of the correspondence, weigh it and think about its impact.
“It’s important that the communication moves on to the working group we have studying this so they can understand people’s views in the community. I appreciate the correspondence that people are sending, and just because we deal with them in a package quickly under correspondence doesn’t mean they are not being listened to by everyone around this [council] table.
The committee voted to receive and file the correspondence.
