After two years in office is our municipal council up to its armpits in alligators? Stay tuned and we’ll try to answer that question.
In a recent email exchange Coun. Ted Prior cautioned that “the work load is too much for Council to get a handle on.”
Consequently, he is planning on making a motion to have the existing part-time councillor positions converted into full-time jobs. He figures that way “we could reduce the amount of consultants and have a much better idea of where the money goes.”
Prior also suggests that each member of council should have a specific portfolio, such as affordable housing, transportation, economic development, First Nation relations or Woodfibre LNG negotiations.
From Mayor Patricia Heintzman’s perspective not only are councillors dealing with a deluge of commercial and residential development applications, they are also “pushing hard on a number of policy fronts.”
That schedule includes the upcoming Official Community Plan (OCP) and the various sub policies within that framework, a bevy of zoning bylaw updates and riparian areas regulations, the pending marine strategy, an upgraded digital strategy, affordable housing options and a range of decisions related to economic development.
As a result, “Council is putting some things on the back burner because we realize we just can’t do it all,” she said.
Coun. Susan Chapelle underscored that assessment by noting that council’s “workload is quite strained right now. I (personally) find it more difficult considering we still have no current OCP to work from and we are constantly being requested to change OCP designations.” She is concerned that “we are growing too quickly, using up our land on pretty pictures with no long-term plan. The biggest worry for me is traffic planning.
“It will quickly become a nightmare having one road in and out of all our small areas with increased density.”
But according to rookie Coun. Peter Kent, although the workload is challenging, “it just means work harder. Read more. Know your job. It’s all good and never a dull moment.”
And first term Coun. Karen Elliott said during certain weeks there is considerably more background reading required and the meetings are longer, but she believes “that does not necessarily make it more complex.”
Doug Race, who has been at the council table for nearly a decade, said even though district staff have been under more pressure to cope with the surge in development applications, “that does not necessarily translate into more work for council.”
In his estimation, councillors have “more or less the same workload and challenges as in previous terms.”
So, after reviewing that mixed bag of opinions emanating from the gilded chamber on Second Avenue, it appears the yin and yang of life at muni hall is in the eye of the beholder.
