No Reduction in Size of Council
Tuesday, January 22, 2013 @ 3:59 AM
Prince George, B.C. – Although there are a number of communities in B.C. which have populations over 50 thousand and only have 6 Councillors plus a Mayor, such a change won’t be happening in Prince George.
Reducing the size of Council was a cost saving opportunity put forth by the KPMG Core review, but Council was split on the idea.
Councillor Everitt says he will not support the motion, saying the work load that would be put on the shoulders of the six would make it even more difficult for Councillors to communicate with the public.
Skakun says “If it’s just a money issue then Council should just reduce the total wages by $72 thousand a year.” He also says reducing the size of Council reduces the diversity of representation.
Councillors Murry Krause, Dave Wilbur and Lyn Hall echoed the concern on diversity.
“The benefits to the community are not there” says Councillor Garth Frizzell.
Even if Council had approved exploring this move, it would have staff come back with a bylaw in early 2014, a referendum question added to the 2014 municipal ballot, and if the electorate said yes to a reduction, that wouldn’t happen until 2017.
Mayor Shari Green, along with Councillors Stolz and Koehler supported moving forward and developing the bylaw to reduce the size of Council. Councillors Skakun, Everitt, Wilbur Krause Hall and Frizzell voted against.
If Council was limited to 6 in the last election, Everitt and Frizzell would not have been elected and Wilbur would have been the last to make the cut.
Comments
What a surprise. Lets see how this works, it is about the same as an employer approaching his workers and asking them if they are over staffed. Who wants a lay off? We’re the councillors taking care of the city or taking care of themselves?
But we just voted ourselves in a raise.. Let us be pigs at the trough..just no one else can belly up.
LOL…the trough. Like Dave Wilbur at a smorgasbord.
So again, council shows they are no different than any other politician. Disgusting. What a waste of money and time the core review has turned out to be. The Mayor sucks.
“make it more difficult for councillors to communicate with the public”.
That might be a valid statement if council ever listen to the public. The Haldi issue comes immediately to mind.
Council operate more like the gestapo than elected officials when it comes to dealing with the public.
At what point does the Mayor quit trying to justify the wasted time and money spend on the core reveiw and simply admit it was a mistake and move on with building the City rather then tearing down what her predecesors have built!
For all the hard work our City Councillors are doing, trying to come up with ways to reduce the tax increase they will be announcing soon, I put forward the motion that they vote themselves another raise. All those tax payers that are in favor?!
What a waste of council time. I particularly like Skakun’s comment that if it was about money, then reduce it by 72 thousand a year. Didn’t they just get a pay raise? I’m all for reducing their wages. Bring it on.
I’m not a ‘Green’ fan (who is) but I applaud the process of putting this to council for a vote. They acted upon the recommendation from the review and the idea was defeated in a democratic process. I echo the concerns of councelors that the work load on six members would be a strain but more important to me is less votes to pass a motion on the floor. More councelors means more view points and more decision. Good move. Skakun has it right – if it is just a matter of money – lets see decreased wages make up the difference.
it is like a carnival side show. Look here look here says the carny, all the while he is setting you up to take your money.
Cutting the number of council members wasn’t going to save a lot of money but it makes it seem like they are trying something. I think Councillor Skakun and others have it right – it would have created less representation and concentrated even more power with the few remaining including our new mayor. NO wonder they voted in favor of it.
If they were really serious about saving money they would take a very simple step and cut back on their travel expenses. How much does Councillor Stolz spend of our tax dollars traveling across the country ever year? They will have another chance to make that cut during the upcoming budget discussions.
Too bad the citizens of Prince George will vote these ninnies in again next election. I’ll remind you.
the citizens of prince george need to get informed and vote. green will be a one term mayor.
opine: “I’m not a ‘Green’ fan (who is)”
She got the majority of votes, so she must have some fans out there.
Opine has it right. Reducing Councillors to 6 from 8 just means more work for the six.
What we need is for the eight Councillors to be somewhat responsible for certain areas of the City, and certain facilities.
The City could be broken up into
1. Hart Highway / North Nechako
2. West of 97 and 16 Including University
3. Bowl Area. from 97 East to Yellowhead Bridge
4. Miller Addition and South Ft George
5. Highway 16 West including College Heights to Haldi Road.
6. 16 East including Pineview and PG Airport.
2 Councillors could be responsible for City facilities, ie; Skating Rinks, Library, Art Centre, Golf Course, Swimming Pools, and other municipal buildings, and parks. They could be a liason between the managers of these facilities, and the Mayor and Council. This would give them first hand knowledge of how these facilities are run, what they cost, and what contribution they make to the City.
Having Councillors responsible for certain area’s makes it easier for people to approach the right person to get some information or make a complaint.
Whats the chances of this ever happening??
“She got the majority of votes, so she must have some fans out there.”
Largest spending per capita ever for a mayoral candidate might have something to do with it. Not to mention that Dapper Dan was not exactly popular at the time.
A referendum in 2014 could be enacted at that time, simply count those ballots first and if the decision is to go with 6 councillors then the top 6 win.
Lonesome: “Largest spending per capita ever for a mayoral candidate might have something to do with it. Not to mention that Dapper Dan was not exactly popular at the time.”
At the end of the day, no matter how much was spent, the voters voted. Well, 40% of the voters voted, anyway. The rest couldn’t be bothered.
And not much more than 3 months later, it seemed like everyone was calling for her to be thrown out.
JB wrote: “She got the majority of votes, so she must have some fans out there.”
It is amazing how things can be written in such a way that it can appear ro be one thing to many, when it is actually another.
Of those who voted, she got less than the majority of their vote. In other words, more than half of the people who voted, voted for other candidates. She did get more votes than any other candidate so, by that calculation she had a majority.
In fact, she was the first candidate in recent elections as, shown on the city web site, who got less than 50% of the vote from those who voted even considering other elections when more than two candidates ran.
So, that goes to the question of how popular was she on the day of the election.
The answer, the least popular of all other winning candidates in the recent past. So far I suspect that she has lost even more popularity than she had at that time.
At the end of the day you **HAVE TO DANCE WITH THE ONE YOU BRUNG**
We have another 22 Months with Mayor Green in the Wheelhouse,. We should make the best of the situation.
We have some big issues coming up that will decide once and for all how many of the present Council (if they run) will be returned.
1. Haldi Road, treatment facility and OCP changes.
2. Selling off Pine Valley Par 3 golf course to commercial interests, for short term gain.
3. Selling off or leasing City facilities such as the Coliseum, Swimming Pool, Civic Centre,etc; to private interests for short term gain.
4. Crime reduction in this City.
5. Whether or not the Winter Games will be a success and what was the actual cost to taxpayers for this *frolic in the snow*
6. The Performing Arts Centre, that (in my opinion) is still sitting in the wings waiting for the dust to settle, before it is once more proposed as a capital project.
7. What kind of contract will be signed with CUPE and at what cost to taxpayers.
8. Increases in taxes and services for 2013 and 2014, and how much. This is the big one, because we already pay to much for the services we actually receive.
gus: “She did get more votes than any other candidate so, by that calculation she had a majority.”
That’s all I was trying to say. Don’t read too much into it. Oops, too late.
SHe wasnt voted in.. Dan was voted out.;
Good post Palopu. What you said….
Palopu – “We have another 22 Months with Mayor Green in the Wheelhouse,.”
Sequel to the “The Perfect Storm” coming up….the clouds are rolling in….the sea is getting rough…the average citizen is turning green :(
Atawapiskat has 18 council members and 3 chiefs for a 2000 poulation. I think we need 35 councilors and 4 mayors to keep up with that. Imagine the number election signs along the streets.
I fully support Mayor Green going on a hunger strike until the GG meets with her. :)
And dont forget Eugene Fetterly also got more then 2000 votes. Fetterly for Mayor.
cheers
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