Have your say: Resident advisory group planned

Recently retired ward one residents Frank White and his partner, Helga Wintal, are looking for opportunities to use their knowledge and skills to benefit the community.

Preferring to be known by their first names, Frank and Helga are recruiting neighbourhood residents to form a ward one advisory committee to facilitate communication with their councillors.

The idea stemmed in part from their efforts during the last municipal election.  

Disappointed with the format of the all-candidates meetings in their ward, which “offered little opportunity for spontaneous candidate interaction,” they rented space at the Roseland Golf Course and recruited a moderator.

Advertising the event by posting notices in local businesses and hand-delivering hundreds of flyers, 100 people came out to watch the candidates field questions and engage in face-to-face debate.

It was this type of interaction they were hoping to experience at the ward strategy sessions as well as the Greenlink open houses – but both experiences were, “disappointing.”

“The strategic planning exercise was a façade of participatory democracy. None of the resident input was reflected in the final version of the plan, which remained basically unchanged from the proposal,” he said. 

It was somewhat the same story with the GreenLink proposal.

“There was no wide-ranging public discussion or input during the design phase,” Frank said.  ”And when the proposal was finally released, the city’s request for feedback was worded in a way to ensure a favourable pro-GreenLink response.”

Although he requested a reply to his eleven-page critique of GreenLink, none was received. “Not even an acknowledgment of receipt.” 

This “institution-centred” approach concerned Helga who, normally soft-spoken, adamantly claimed, “There are a lot of residents here that have a lot of skills – a lot of good ideas – and yet there doesn’t seem to be a mechanism to get them involved.”

So when their councillor expressed an interest in having meetings with constituents, it seemed only natural for the two to offer their time and experience to help organise.

With five residents signed up so far, they are looking for two or three more core members to move forward with planning for a first meeting with their councillor in February.

The duo favour a group decision-making process to ensure participants have a say in creating a format, process and agenda that works for all.

“This will give another opportunity to hear from your councillors, what they’ve been doing, what the issues are and welcoming suggestions, comments and ideas at the same time,” added Helga.

They are hoping there is enough community interest to form the group.

“It remains to be seen whether there are enough people out there sufficiently interested in city politics to support this kind of activity,” said Frank.

________________________________________________

How to get involved

These are serious times. We need serious people to engage in serious conversations. Be part of the solution. Join the discussion. Have your say. Ask your questions. Get your councillor’s perspective. Hear what your neighbours have to say. To join or receive more information please contact Helga or Frank by phone at 519-972-7397 or by email at hwintal@sympatico.ca.