By Staff
February 2, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON.
Burlington has a practice of recruiting citizens to sit on Boards and committees that are involved in the operation of the city. There are advisory committees and Committees that the city must create as well
The city sees the appointing of citizens as part of its strategic direction for Excellence in Government as identified in the City’s Strategic Plan.
Through its citizen committees and municipal boards, the city says it is forging strong community relationships with open dialogue and citizen involvement in municipal issues.
Citizen committees offer Burlington residents the opportunity to provide Council advice and recommendations on various matters and/or organize activities that strengthen the community’s connection to the municipality.
The Clerks department conducts a recruitment process during the fall of each year. Recruitment opportunities are advertised on the City website as well as in local media.
This time around the Clerks department organized a volunteer fair where the public was invited to learn about all of the various opportunities available; more than one hundred applications were received from individuals expressing interest in the committees and boards.
The interviews for the citizen committees and boards were held in December 2014 and January 2015. The interview teams for each were comprised of the Chair or Vice Chairs of the Committees, staff liaisons and Council members.
The interview teams made their selection recommendations based on the respective committee’s needs as well as the applicant’s knowledge of the role, relevant skills and experience, expressed dedication/commitment/time availability, and communication skills.
The terms of reference for the citizen committees specify the duration of the appointments and provide for staggered terms to ensure continuity in the operation of each committee.
The interview team for the Committee of Adjustment (which includes the Property Standards Committee and Committee of Revision) recommended five individuals for appointment and three alternates. The Terms of Reference for the Committee of Adjustment however, stipulate that there are to be five members and only one alternate.
Staff are recommending with the guidance from the Legal department that a member of Council be appointed to act as an alternate member on the Licensing Committee. Should a member of the Licensing Committee have a conflict of interest, the alternate member would be required to participate in Licensing matters.
City hall has put a very positive spin on the process of involving citizens. There is some information that doesn’t get passed along; an oversight perhaps.
There is no longer a Transit Advisory Committee – yet transit is one of the most pressing problems the city has. The subject is seen as important enough for a citizens group to have formed a committee of their own that delegates to Council regularly – they are seldom actually listened to yet it is made up of people with an excellent understanding of transit and how it is managed in the Greater Toronto Area.
Many years ago when the Orchard community was being developed provision wasn’t made for a lot of space to park cars. At the time the thinking amongst planners was that public transit would be developed and families wouldn’t need two and three cars.
Well public transit wasn’t developed and parking in the Orchard is a mess. The ward Councillor for that part of the city, Paul Sharman, has done as much as he can to create solutions to a messy problem which might not exist if there were a well thought through, properly financed transit policy.
Matters of confidentiality plague at least one of the Advisory committee. Heritage once found itself having to go into a closed session without the members of the committee fully understanding what that meant.
The city does have some exceptional Advisory committees. Heritage was a mess until decent leadership was put in place and solid policies implemented. The Heritage Advisory actually got a close to standing ovation from council for the excellent work they had done.
Then a council member, whose name shall go unknown, began to talk about bringing that function back into city hall.
They sometimes just don’t know when to leave well enough alone.
City Council approved the following appointments citizen committees and boards.
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Heritage Burlington Advisory Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Kate White
• Howard Bohan
• Dorothy Kosinska
• Daniel Boag
• John Vice (Alternate)
• Pauline Laing (Alternate)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Arthur Rendall
• Ashley Taylor
• Brian Ouellette
• Adam Spencer
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Sustainable Development Advisory Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Carolyn Barnes
• Julian Riano
• Sumit Kumar Tangri
• Tim Park
• Katherine Miller
• John Thompson
• Emma DeFields
• Anthony Zhou (Alternate)
• Michael Leone (Alternate)
• Albert Faccenda (Alternate)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Cycling Advisory Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Lindsay King
• Jeremy Santucci
• Brad Slade (term to expire 2016)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Inclusivity Advisory Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Michael Demone
• Dana Anderson
• Katelan Dunn
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Mundialization Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Chuck Morris
• Arnold Koopman
• Rob Lyng
• Bill Stafford
• Kevin Visser
• Sai Ramanathan
• Mary Vuk
• Neal Patel
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Seniors Advisory Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2017:
• Robert Lovell
• Kim Routlege
• JR Gauthier (Alternate)
• Peter Cowman (Alternate)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Burlington Public Library Board for a term to expire at December 31, 2018:
• Gloria Baxter
• Micki Clemens
• Nancy Douglas
• Maciej Jurczyk
• Brian Kenny
• Denise Maraj
• Catherine Benzie (Alternate)
• Shelley Easton (Alternate)
• Chris Gauthier (Alternate)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Committee of Adjustment for a term to expire at December 31, 2018:
• Malcolm Ramsay
• Rob Bailey
• Lindsay King
• Alexandra Rawlings
• Terry Kay
• Grant Newbury (Alternate)
• John Calvert (Alternate)
• John Vice (Alternate)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Audit Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2018:
• Peter Maher
• David Tait
• Brian Goard
• Maciej Jurczyk
• Paul Vetrone (Alternate)
Approve the following citizens for appointment to the Conservation Halton Board of Directors for a term to expire at December 31, 2018:
• John Vice
• James Sweetlove
• Gerry Smallegange
Approve the following citizen for appointment to the Downtown Parking Committee for a term to expire at December 31, 2018:
• Joe Henning
