Behind Closed Doors
16 Wednesday Jan 2013
Written by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Urban Development
I was taken aback last night by council’s secretive review and approval of a development in the north part of town. It’s called ‘Age in Place’ and involves acres of town property. There is the prospect that it will add jobs and tax revenue to the town.
But the possible proposals were reviewed in the closed session of council earlier that evening and added as a last minute item to the open portion of the council meeting and then approved unanimously with no discussion. The only information that was provided to the public about the ‘deal’ arose because sitting in the audience I was making faces reflecting my outrage about the process and wondering ‘what the hell is this all about?’.
A discussion with town staff right after the council meeting provided little information about the process. I am following up on this and expect to provide more information in the days to come. I wonder if council and staff are not used to having town residents pay attention to what they are doing.
I am very, very concerned about the process used for the review and public discussion of this decision. This is a deal that was discussed, agreed and ‘cut’ behind closed doors. This is not the way that council business is to be handled if public confidence in council is to be maintained.
I’ll post my usual review of last night’s council meeting separately.
No comments
January 16, 2013 at 11:21 am
Sure make you think something nefarious is going on when they go through the trouble of hiding it. The councillors need to rethink their roles and responsibilities to the public if they are behaving like this. Thank you for your hard work and reporting.
January 16, 2013 at 12:18 pm
I don’t think it’s nefarious. I think it’s council’s attempt to be expedient and make things happen that are good for the town. But there is a process that they have established for approving Requests for Proposals that includes full disclosure of the proposals, staff analysis and recommendation, and the opportunity for public input, if only through the deputation process. And in the case of rezoning the town always provides a period of time for posting the request and requesting local resident input. I wonder what kind of a deal has been cut? There were many undisclosed concessions made when the town approved the big box proposals. Let’s see what information is provided to the town residents about this ‘done deal’.