No Shockers in Questions Posed At E-Townhall Meeting
Tuesday, October 15, 2013 @ 7:19 PM
Prince George, B.C. – The first e-townhall meeting for the City of Prince George, produced questions about debt levels, sidewalk maintenance, the fate of the Nechako branch of the library.
More than 30 questions had been posed and responded to in less than an hour.
Questions not able to be answered this evening, will be answered on October 28th when a presentation is made to the Committee of the Whole.
One question asked what initiatives are underway to run the City as efficiently as possible?
The answer came from City Manager Beth James who says the departments are undergoing a regular service review as was recommended by Council following the Core Review.
There was a question posed about adding outstanding bylaw infraction fines to property taxes. The answer is, there is no legislative authority to do so.
The majority of the questions posed had more to do with process and policies rather than actual budget issues.
Will the City be re-establishing a social media presence? The answer was yes, once the City has had a chance to “examine best practices” and adopts a plan to “do it right”.
As for the fate of the Nechako Branch of the Library, that should become clearer in the new year. The City and the Library are working together on a report that will focus on the fate of that branch.
The budget survey is still available for people to access and share their thoughts on how tax dollars should be spent. That will be available on the City’s website until 5 p.m. this Friday.
There will be a committee of the whole meeting on the 28th, the City’s two budget deliberation meetings are set for November 27th and December 4th.
Comments
Regarding the Library, can we see some real information regarding attendance levels, borrowing information, what gets borrowed, how many people regularly use a library card, how much it costs taxpayers to maintain the Library, etc. I’d like to see this over the last 10-20 years. Does this info exist?
I suspect the much of Library traffic nowadays is to use public internet terminals, but I’d love to be proven wrong on that.
Families use libraries a lot. I live in the west side of town so I use the main branch of course, but kids aren’t there for the internet. We take part in the programs and borrow materials in the standard old-fashioned way. I also borrow for my book club – they have a great selection of sets for clubs. I don’t know what the Nechako numbers are like, but Bob Harkins is definitely not just for people using computers. I’d hope they’d at least keep a children’s library available to the Hart residents.
“City and the Library are working together on a report that will focus on the fate of that branch.”
Fate … great choice of words that make me think along the lines that the fate is sealed from he start.
fate = the supposed force, principle, or power that predetermines events
the prospects ….
the future plans …..
the several scenarios …..
But, like a lot of things under this administration, predetermined decision making is the order of the day.
lhl: “Families use libraries a lot.”
Anecdotal evidence is nice, but I’d still like to see some numbers.
Read the 2011 annual report here JB.
http://www.lib.pg.bc.ca/about
There are no detailed reports available to the people in this community as far as I know.
Sort of works like IPG.
I want some real numbers that one can paint a picture of what is popular and what isn’t as well.
Thanks gus, I knew about that report, I was hoping there as something better.
It’s hard not to think that something is being hidden when it is so hard to get such basic information.
Funny about that report, they track ‘Reference Questions Answered’ with increasing numbers every year, but they don’t release information like I’m asking for above? What a joke.
Not sure what a reference question is.
Where can I find some information on Kodiak bears?
What year was Ernest Hemmingway born?
Interesting that reference questions increase every year when the internet and its various search engines not to speak about the data which is electronically available are improving exponentially.
Perhaps that is what a significant number of reference questions deal with, web based data searches.
Since we are just given some number attached to an undefined question we really do not understand what it means.
The take away that we are supposed to have is that they are increasing that service. If only we could find out what that service is.
If they are so close to the chest with that information, I would hate to think how well they do with answering reference questions.
A guide to municipal progress reporting
http://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/local_content/manuals/4615.pdfâ
An interesting little document which has words such as:
When reporting to the public, municipal councils should keep the following points in mind:
⢠Reports should focus on results, highlighting the value of the service.
⢠Information should be meaningful, clear and understandable.
⢠Numbers alone may be misleading; therefore, it is often good to include comments explaining the numbers.
⢠Comments should be concise and written in plain language.
⢠Keep comments simple. Operational detail may obscure the real story and cloud
municipal transparency.
“Not sure what a reference question is.”
No idea either, but they’re answering between 200-300 of them per day. If they’re tracking the google stats from their public internet terminals, maybe that is what they’re referring to.
Also, where’s 2012’s report?
Why do you keep bringing up the library?
For one, there are lots of real numbers re: library usage at both branches. These are reported annually during the budget consultations at the end of every fiscal year.
Secondly, it has been reported over and over that council has no authority to close a branch of the library. It is up to the library board to determine executive decisions like that. Please stop reporting or suggesting that council has a say in this, when it is innaccurate information.
Why do you keep bringing up the library?
For one, there are lots of real numbers re: library usage at both branches. These are reported annually during the budget consultations at the end of every fiscal year.
Secondly, it has been reported over and over that council has no authority to close a branch of the library. It is up to the library board to determine executive decisions like that. Please stop reporting or suggesting that council has a say in this, when it is innaccurate information.
fif: “Why do you keep bringing up the library?”
I see nothing wrong with asking questions, especially when they involve my tax dollars.
Surely if the information exists, you can post a link to it.
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