Communicate with your Council
A Committee tasked with suggesting ways for Clearview Council to improve communication with its citizens recommends hiring a new staff person whose role is devoted to this area.
The recommendation was one of many the Effective Representation Advisory Committee made during a one-and-a-half-hour long Public Meeting at Stayner’s municipal building on Wednesday night.
Council established the Committee earlier this year to consider Council’s roles and responsibilities, as well as best practice guidelines for tools of communication.
The Committee is made up of three members of the public (Yvonne Hamlin, Bob Charlton and Heidi Sterrenburg) and Councillors Deb Bronée, Brent Preston and Thom Paterson, with Mayor Ken Ferguson acting as an ex officio member.
The group has met almost weekly since the end of January to develop the recommendations. “We asked, how would it be better for me to receive Council communication?” Committee Chair Hamlin said.
At Wednesday’s meeting, the Committee advised hiring a communications professional to inform media outlets about Council activities, use social media, maintain websites, prepare press releases and facilitate education sessions.
“We feel this is a logical suggestion for our committee to suggest given our committee’s mandate. A person with expertise in this area would help close the gap,” Hamlin explained.
Other suggestions included creating two voluntary and private evaluation tools to identify Councillors’ education needs and evaluate the effectiveness of Council as a group. The Committee also recommended creating a Code of Conduct for Council.
The Committee also proposed using social media, developing a Council newsletter, and revamping the Clearview website to include ward maps and pages devoted to specific applications to Council so they are easy for web users to find.
Upgrades to Township facilities to create virtual offices for Councillors were suggested. These could be as simple as adding voicemail to every Councillor’s phone line, Hamlin said. She advised replacing Council members’ tablets with laptops so they can make more productive use of their time by using software such as Microsoft Office and keep track of email.
Recommendations for this year included having the Mayor speak regularly on the radio to highlight the goings-on at Council meetings as well as the current issues of the day. In addition, Councillors could hold ward Town Hall meetings to find out what is on their constituents’ minds.
In addition, the Committee recommended that staff reports to Council include methods of engaging the public as soon as May 2014.
Creemore resident Paul Ruppel asked Council to publicize the reasons for the way it votes. “It’s frustrating,” said Ruppel. “How can we have effective representation when some Councillors don’t speak at Council meetings or have laptops or use email?”
“I think what we need is a communications by-law with some teeth in it,” suggested another citizen, who called for legislation requiring Councillors to respond to queries within a specific timeframe.
Mad Maple Country Inn owner Miriam Streiman suggested that dialogue between Council and Clearview’s citizens could be increased by forming a board made up of people from different industries such as farming, arts and culture, and food and beverage.
While most of the recommendations outline ways for Council to communicate with residents, one person wondered if the Committee could make suggestions for ways citizens could reach their Councillors.
Other members of the audience discussed recording Council meetings so community members could know how specific Councillors voted.
To see the Committee’s recommendations for Council, read the March 17 Council meeting agenda at www.clearview.ca. To provide feedback for Council, fill out a survey at www.clearview.ca, at the municipal office in Stayner or at the Creemore or Sunnidale branches of the Clearview Public Library. The Committee has extended the deadline for commentary to Friday, April 4 for those who would still like to comment.
