TRANSITION BOARD CONSULTATION

BY ALAYNE MACGREGOR

he Transition Board Political Infrastructure Project Team will be holding public meetings in April re:

political infrastructure of new city
roles and responsibilities of elected officials and their staff
compensation levels of elected officials and their staff
other costs (operating budgets) and requirements (facilities, equipment, etc.)
committee structure of new council
operating guidelines

OTTAWA

Tues Apr 18, 3-5pm, 7-9pm.

Victoria Hall, Ottawa City Hall, 111 Sussex Drive

NEPEAN

Wed Apr 19, 7-9 pm.

Nepean City Council Chambers, 101 Centrepointe Drive

RURAL

Thurs Apr 27, 7-9pm.

Rideau Township Arena

5572 Dr. Leach Drive, Manotick

Among the likely hot issues:

should councillors be full or part-time?
do they need more staff than current RMOC councillors?
how much (if at all) should the new city budget be reduced from total of current municipal budgets
what committees should Council have?
how often and when should they meet?
how many councillors? (generally more means more representative) Since all decisions are made at committee and less often overturned at council and since committees are the only place where citizens get to speak, it's important that they're accessible and representative.
what balance of delegated powers between staff and politicians? Too much staff is undemocratic, too much politicians drowns in trivia and prevents looking at the longer term.

If you want your city to be responsive to your needs and democratic, you should get your ideas to this body, either at these meetings or in writing to the Transition Board.