myPG Public Participation Round Extended

Wednesday, December 09, 2009 03:50 AM

Prince George, B.C.- The City has extended the deadline for the first round of public participation in the “myPG” campaign.

“There are some groups who informed us they have just really heard about the myPG project and while they would like to take part in the initial public participation process, they have no plans to meet in December because of the holidays” says Mark Fercho, who is heading up the community sustainability plan.

This first round of public participation was set to end on the 16^th of December, but that has now been extended to January 14^th.

“We will gather up the information we have collected so far and start working on it as of December 16^th so we aren’t losing any time on the project, then input the rest of the information we gather till the middle of January” adds Fercho.

To add to the Holiday spirit, those who have already submitted their workbooks, or made their comments online, will be entered in a draw for some prizes.

myPG is plan that calls for public input on how the City should plan for the long term future. Having such a plan in place is key to accessing funding from the Federal Government.

You can access the myPG website and fill in an online worksheet by clicking here.

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Posted on Wednesday, December 09, 2009 03:50 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: gus on December 9 2009 9:11 AM

I called up the City to see what the prizes were .........

Posted by: Palopu on December 9 2009 10:38 AM

You can rest assured that the City planning department already has a long term plan for the City, and that they are fully aware of all the funding possibilities that are available to them.

This process is to give people the impression that they are involved, when in fact they are not.

The PAC, Police Station, Wood Generation Plant, River Road Upgrade, Boundry Road Extension, Airport Expansion, Golf course relocation, etc;, were all planned etc; without any input from local Citizens. The plans for some development in the downtown area are already on the books without any Citizen input. So whats left???

Maybe a hot dog stand in Cottonwood Park, or a four way stop in some remote part of the City, but you can rest assured nothing substantial.

Posted by: gus on December 9 2009 10:53 AM

"Having such a plan in place is key to accessing funding from the Federal Government."

I think what that refers to, Palopou, is that the feds are providing $120,000 through the Gas Tax Fund.

It is specific to this project. However, it states it is supposed to be for capital projects leading to cleaner air, cleaner water, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Assume that will be the prime info to be culled from this exercise.

It also feeds into the OCP process which is long overdue.
http://www.city.pg.bc.ca/pages/media2009/2009_10_26.pdf

Posted by: gus on December 9 2009 10:59 AM

"This process is to give people the impression that they are involved, when in fact they are not."

I partly agree with that. it may or may not be on purpose. I would like to think it has just been sloppy work in the past and possibly even frustrating work since people are generally not that interested unless it involves them directly.

At the same time, I do not think the city has taken a very proactive role in getting people involved.

I would think that extending the time is an indicator of what the response has been like to date.

I wonder if they have an independent watchdog to see whether the process is reasonable and is being followed. Many public input processes which have a standard and/or funding involved with them have an auditor attached to the process who will provide a summary of how accessible the process was and whether the decision outcome follows the input.

Posted by: faxman on December 9 2009 12:07 PM

What this city really needs is fewer bureaucrats and fewer city "workers". The fat needs trimming big time; all the way from the mayor's office to the guy standing at the side of the road breast-feeding his shovel. Get rid of the chaff first and then start planning the city's future.