Coun. Susan Flowers delivered her premiere notice of motion at the Feb. 25 council, which seeks to limit the numbers of motions that can be brought forward by any councillor to three per calendar year.
“We need to be cautious about overwhelming ourselves and senior staff,” said Flowers.
She said with more than 180 priorities recently identified through strategic planning she is concerned council will not have the ability to follow through on what the group has deemed as the issues of the most importance.
“If we work together, we will be more productive,” she said, adding that she is looking forward to debating the motion with council to determine whether three is the magic number or what other avenues council can pursue to ensure they are on track.
Since the Oct. 16, 2017 election, Mayor Jeff Genung has brought forward one motion, as have Couns. Tara McFadden and Alex Reed (not including a joint motion with Coun. Nagel).
Coun. Marni Fedeyko has brought forward two motions.
Nagel has brought forward five (including one joint motion with Reed) and is contesting Flowers’ motion, calling it undemocratic, highly restrictive and counter-productive.
“As far as I’m concerned, elected officials have the right to have opinions … being a councillor is not about being a figurehead or providing secondary advice to administration,” said Nagel, who is concerned that there is a sentiment in the group that there is no need to rush change.
He asserts that his mandate as an elected official is to seek real change and that this can best be brought forward to his fellow councillors through notices of motions.
The restriction of this ability, he feels, could prevent change from taking place as it relates to such concerns as development and short-term traffic solutions.
He also feels that the justification to “lighten the load” on administration and elected officials will not be well-perceived by the public and that the motion “hamstrings council’s own authority.”
Genung said that while he will reserve full commentary until the motion is debated, he said council “needs to be calculated and deliberate with what we bring forward as notices of motion.”
The town will be hosting public engagement sessions on council’s strategic priorities March 6, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre; childcare is available.
Genung said that while he will reserve full commentary until the motion is debated by, he said council “needs to be calculated and deliberate with what we bring forward as notices of motion.”
The town will be hosting public engagement sessions on council’s strategic priorities March 6, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre; childcare is available.
