As we have previously blogged, Township Council has serious questions about the need for more committees and commissions in the TOL. The latest Langley Times article covers this debate here. As you will see from the agenda we will post tomorrow, this matter does not appear on the council's agenda and we therefore assume that Mayor Green still has no Terms of Reference (ToR) for his proposal now that we are entering February already! One would think that as the mayor had this plan in mind throughout his campaign he would have already had a ready written ToR many, many months ago. This appears to be yet another item that was presented in the campaign and which Mayor Green had absolutely no detailed plan to implement it.
Most of council feel this is simply a duplication of the structure that already exists and with a proper work plan for the existing structure, the same could be acommplished at a significant cost reduction to taxpayers. Why is Mayor Green so insistent on these duplicate committees? Does he simply have more friends and insiders that he wishes to inject into the Township?
Its not often that we agree with Councillor Richter, but in this case her statements are very much echoed by her collegues on council. Counsellors Steve Ferguson and Mel Kositsky have also been very vocal on this subject.
“Why do we need an economic development task force?” asked Councillor Kim Richter.
Richter suggested that the work plan of the existing Economic Development (select) Committee could be changed to accomplish what Green proposes for his new economic task force.
Green said that a task force would be more project focused, possibly looking at industrial space, and industrial/commercial/residential base, over a period of up to six to eight months, as opposed to the committee’s ongoing role.
The existing committees are established under a bylaw, and the mayor does not have the authority to suspend them, said Councillor Mel Kositsky.
These committees have however been asked to suspend any substantive work, said administrator Mark Bakken, while the complexities of the mayor’s proposals for standing committees are worked out.
Kositsky said he is concerned about the volunteer members of the community who currently serve or have replied to advertisements to serve on the committees."
Councillor Steve Ferguson keeps having to remind the rookie mayor that democracy must prevail and if you profess to be a campion of open and transparent government, then you shouldn't create various committees filled with friends and insiders and given secret mandates from the mayor. Coun. Ferguson is very good at these reminders because he makes his appeals in a very civil manner as a "student of democracy". Ferguson really is a student of democracy in his interactions with Township Council for sure. The rookie mayor could get some valuable lessons from Councillors Ferguson, Kositsky and others.
Kositsky said that volunteers “who have a life,” need to know what is happening with the committees, so they can plan ahead for meetings.
Green said he is not planning to change or “subvert” anything by creating an economic task force or safety policing committee, but he sees the select and standing committees as having two different purposes.
“Council always works better when we do it together,” said Councillor Steve Ferguson, who suggested a council workshop or retreat to find out more about Green’s vision, and for Green to get oriented to what council and the committees are doing or have done.
6 comments:
In this economic climate, can the Township afford to examine new structures and new committees and debate how they fit into the existing way of conducting Township business?
May I suggest that the time and resources are better spent on debating real township issues, like: transportation, jobs and planned land use and increased density.
Excellent post and good on the Councillors mentioned including Richter for questioning this abuse of power, indugent indifference to the many, many volunteers on committees who volunteer their time and lots of it just to have this new Mayor 'Greenify' them and cast them aside. It will be interesting to see if there were any takers/applications for filling the necessary vacancies. I think the volunteer committee members will befall the uncertainty of this new mayor and not apply for the positions. Who wants to work for a Township that devalues the old system and it's many hardworking volunteers and staff at the beckon call of the mayor who simply makes patronage appointments to those who supported his campaign.....poppycock!
PS: Editor, why not run a pool on how much this Maitland guy donated to Green's campaign, will it offset his renumeration?
Not sure if Mr. Maitland gave money, but he certainly wrote a letter in support of Green and we published it. There is nothing wrong with supporting candidates you believe in, but there should be arms length when dealing with these same people once elected. Green doesn't seem to see that line very clearly.
We hear that Mr. Maitland is very passionate about his land trust methodology, but this is Langley and not Vancouver. Also, there are alligations in Vancouver that have largely been ignored by the city and need to be cleared. These issues could have been during Maitland's rein as manager of real estate and therefore a due diligence should have been done by the TOL prior to appointing him as a consultant. We are certain that anyone else would have had to go through a vetting process.
Here we go again! A Councillor once again interfering with the fine management personnel we have. Between Richter's motion and Green's comment at the Aldergrove Business meeting, "....if need be to solve the crime problem I will hire a private security firm..." I am sure Janice Armstrong, the finest Superintendent in the BC RCMP force, is shaking her head wondering why these two , bleep, bleep politicians are meddling with her territory. (of course she is too professional to say anything publicly like these two) An edict from Council to move a police file along and then to hire a security firm to do policing work.....oh yes, and will this cost nothing. You get what you pay for and maybe one of the Councillors can tell Rick Green that secutiry companies have limited enforcement ability and NO CLOUT in the courts.
Greenifying Langley with no forethought!
PS - note to Rick Green there is no 'I' in team work and that is what 8 Councillors were elected for!
What a bully!
I wonder how Raging Bull plans to make big bucks off Township property when the market is in the tank.
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