Staff
Whether the terms on town boards and committees should be reduced to two years or stay at four will be reviewed by executive committees in the near future.
Council agreed last night to refer the matter to its four executive committees for review after a report from the Community Services executive committee recommended the four-year terms be reduced to two years, and that the current consecutive-year term limit on any one board or committee be cut from nine years to eight.
In the report, Community Services manager George Bell noted the executive committee “has concern over the four-year term, in that it is a lengthy commitment, and the majority of the executive agree that in the interest of keeping committees revitalized and receptive to our changing times, there is an advantage to maintaining a consecutive term limit.”
As such, the Community Services executive committee recommended that appointments to town boards and committees be for a two-year term to be re-advertised halfway through council’s term.
Coun. Paul Ryan said reducing the terms to two years may be beneficial.
“I think that probably there are some people out there that would like to do their civic duty and sit on some of these boards, but feel that maybe it’s just a bit too long—four years,” he remarked.
“And another thing, not ever being on the board before, they don’t really, going in, know exactly what it’s all about and maybe won’t like it, so they would go for two years but maybe not for four,” he reasoned, adding people should have the opportunity to “wet their feet and not commit to four years.”
“I just think there are some people out there that are a little nervous abut four years,” echoed Coun. Sharon Tibbs.
Town clerk Glenn Treftlin, however, said last night he didn’t feel shortening terms would increase people’s likelihood of applying to town boards and committees.
Back when council terms were two years, the town was hard-pressed to get people to apply to committees, he noted.
When council terms were increased to three years, Treftlin did a poll to find out what the public response would be to extending committee terms to three years—to coincide with council’s lengthened term—and found the majority of respondents favoured the three-year term.
“I expect that probably because, at some point in time, there is a learning curve that comes into play, and the term of the members appointed provides them an opportunity to get to know the committee better that they are serving on,” he argued.
As far as a four-year term goes, Treftlin said that when the vacancies on various boards and committees were advertised at the beginning of the current term of council, he “didn’t experience a lot of hesitancy to make application” and the same committees that may have had difficulty getting applicants in the past, when terms were shorter, this time got a full slate of people to fill the vacancies.
Treftlin said he has no problem with the term limit change from nine to eight years, but didn’t see any advantage to reducing the committee terms to two years.
And he added if a board or committee member doesn’t like what they’re doing or otherwise can’t fulfill their four-year commitment, they always can resign and the town advertise again to fill the vacancy.
Likewise, Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig observed that the public’s interest in being on a committee seems to be higher once a new term of council begins. And when the town has to solicit interest mid-term or near the end of the council’s term, they have more difficulty getting citizens to apply.
The matter was referred to the executive committees for review, which, in turn, will give their input to the Administration and Finance executive committee for its recommendation.
Also at last night’s meeting, council:
•approved an increase to aviation fuel prices at the Fort Frances Airport (the new pump prices, effective Jan. 12, are set at $1.65 per litre for 100LL while Jet A-1 will be $1.40/litre);
•approved a report on a revised council remuneration and travel policy, which will be voted on as a bylaw at a future council meeting;
•approved a break-open ticket licence application from the La Verendrye General Hospital Auxiliary at Bonnie Blue from Jan. 15-July 14, 2010;
•passed a bylaw to provide for an interim tax levy in 2010;
•passed a bylaw to amend Bylaw 78/09 regarding a credit agreement with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce; and
•received a list of conferences mayor, council, and the CAO may attend in 2010.
These include the Rainy River District Municipal Association meeting Jan. 30 at the Fort Frances Legion, the Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) in Toronto on Feb. 21-24, the Northern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) in Marathon on April 21-24, and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario in Windsor on Aug. 15-18.
Rounding out the list are the Northern Networks trade conference in Fort Frances on Sept. 15-16 and the Northwest Ontario Regional Conference (the date and site of which is to be determined).
