Tues Jan 30: Public Meeting Disappoints – But Town Hall Promise is a Glimmer of Hope

Plus: Director of Corporate Services reports that 97.5% of City expenses are "committed" including 64% that goes to wages.

Mayor Ian Boddy, City of Owen Sound Public Budget Meeting 2024.

Last night’s jam-packed council meeting kicked off with the Public Budget Meeting, the first 35 minutes of which was a presentation by Kate Allen, the City’s Director of Corporate Services.

We’ll take a deeper dive into the contents of her report this week. For now, I’ll restate what I shared on social while patiently awaiting the public portion of the public meeting:

I don't think having the public give advance input and assigning a City staff member to refute it line-by-line without any discussion amongst City councilors is in keeping with the spirit of meaningful public consultation.

Last night, there was no indication that the Council would return the budget to staff for adjustments. As Allen tells it, 64% of the City’s expenses are wages, which falls within the 97.5% of expenses categorized as “committed” that, therefore, cannot be touched.

Allen made some good suggestions regarding a regional amalgamation of services such as fire, police, and transit, which together make up 60% of the levy increase. However, she is also correct in pointing out that such conversations are not part of budget discussions.

So the question becomes, if not now… when?

It all sounds quite hopeless when the bottom line, we’re told, is that Council’s only room to make change is within that 2.5% of expenses City staff will let them touch.

I’d hoped to see a councilor or two push back on that assertion made by staff. We just saw an incredibly difficult decision made at the County level when two positions were eliminated at Grey Roots Museum to reduce the proposed tax levy. Do I agree with cutting archivists from a museum? Absolutely not. But does this tell me municipalities can and will make staff reductions to balance the budget? Yes, it does.

Six members of the public stood and asked questions last night, most of which were deferred to City staff.

Thank you to those members of the public who attended, particularly those who stood and voiced your thoughts. We’ll share more from the meeting, including your feedback, in the days ahead.

I found myself disappointed and somewhat sad by the end of the public budget meeting.

What we’ve seen throughout this budgeting process is many people in different roles – each with their own motivations and, I sincerely believe, with the best of intentions – trying hard to do their best. But they’re toiling away inside a somewhat broken system that isn’t designed to engage the public or implement feedback.

Carol Merton, in particular, gave an impassioned speech about her process for following up on public requests. I can attest to this; since her first day on the job, Carol has never failed to respond to a single email I’ve sent.

Often, she’s the only one who responds when I throw a personal or professional question into the black hole that is the council@owensound.ca email address. And if she doesn’t have the answer, you better believe she’s going to dig in until she finds it.

But one single person does not a functioning system make.

And so, on to the silver lining.

In a unanimous recorded vote last night, Council agreed to support Town Hall Meetings, the first of which will be held in 2024.

Councilor Jon Farmer’s motion to plan a Town Hall meeting for October kicked off the most productive, open conversation about improving public engagement I’ve ever personally witnessed of Owen Sound Council.

Mayor Ian Boddy said we don’t need to wait until October, and we don’t need to limit these meetings to once a year. He asked Farmer to change the motion to get a staff report on how soon and how often they can have Town Hall meetings.

City Manager Tim Simmonds said the right path forward is to bring a report back from staff that quantifies what success looks like. He said staff could bring this report during the last meeting in March or the first one in April. 

Councilor Marion Koepke asked for an amendment to ensure City committees are included to encourage participation and explain to the public what committees do. 

Councilor Travis Dodd said they must determine how they’ll gather information and turn it into action items. If we’re going to invite people to provide feedback, he said, we need a process to implement and provide comments back.

(At this point, I was cheering out loud.)

Councilor Merton said it should be an enhancement of our engagement strategy, not a replacement for it. She recommended that the City involve the public in the development of the town hall plan so they truly become a part of it.

And listen, these are all fantastic suggestions and additions.

We saw last night just how effective our Council can be when they push back and ask questions, have a lively discussion, share their suggestions, and bring their unique perspectives to the table in open dialogue.

• Jon brought the idea and the importance of community groups to the table.

• Marion’s committee advocacy and education is a great addition to the plan.

• Ian’s encouragement of the open format and more frequent meetings is the leadership needed to set the tone for the program.

• Travis’s business acumen added an accountability and activation lens.

• And Carol’s unwavering commitment to truly listening and helping people feel ownership of the issues is invaluable.

This is how local government is supposed to work. We need to see more of this open discussion.

We need to see more diversity and specificity in the direction being given to staff, so councilors and the people they serve are well-represented in planning stages. Consultation has come to mean end-stage presentations from staff and public questions only after all the major decisions are made. That can only ever be a reactionary approach that results in conflict.

The council’s enthusiasm for Town Hall meetings is a glimmer that there could be better things to come. Let’s hope that energy continues.

~ Miranda

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