Community Engagement Approach
QUESTION: If elected, what specific practices would you support to ensure that:
Residents have accessible and meaningful opportunities to provide feedback to Council.
Council demonstrates that it understands the issues and concerns being raised, including the context behind them.
Council clearly communicates the rationale for its decisions, including how public feedback was considered when choosing to make a change or maintain the status quo.
ANSWERS:
I would advocate for council to designate a lead councillor to be the contact on a project requiring public consultation.
I would support multiple communication channels such as open mic at council meetings, written submissions and occasional town-hall sessions on major issues.
The designated councillor mentioned above would have the role to keep abreast of public comments and monitor responses by staff and project consultants, and inform the rest of council.
As councillors, we must do the work – read the materials, ask clarifying questions in public, and demonstrate they grasp both the technical details and the human/local context.
On particularly complex projects, or projects of a sensitive nature and concern to residents, an additional request could be made for council to form a community working group to work with township staff, consultants and the appointed councillors of the project. This group would meet at various key stages during the project to ensure comments and concerns are being heard, but also to provide reasons why decisions were made. I would expect, then, the residents’ representatives of the working group to communicate with their community (in addition to project community consultation).
This is all in addition to standard project public consultation practices including open meetings to the public with project consultants and ACW staff. The official plan, that is well-researched, should always be our guiding document.
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