Elected members should be canvassed and given an open opportunity to express interest in a council ad-hoc steering committee.
Coun. Bill Gordon raised this concern after council members were named for the County Road 93 Secondary Plan ad-hoc steering committee. The names were included as a consent agenda item, which council members approved at the beginning of their recent meeting.
"My concerns lie not around the formation of this secondary plan steering committee, which I think is a great idea," said Gordon. "I've expressed these concerns more than once during this term that it appears there's been some arbitrary picking of councillors. I don't remember any type of conversation or canvassing of this council on who may be interested in sitting on this."
He asked Mayor Stewart Strathearn how the names had been picked.
"The mayor has the ability and the responsibility to nominate individuals to sit on committees," said Strathearn, adding, "Council has the responsibility to either accept the recommendation or suggest alternatives."
Coun. Carole McGinn added to Gordon's stance.
"It is a committee I would be interested in being on," she said. "I understand that because it's on the consent agenda, we have a yes or a no today. Moving forward, I think it's in the best interest of everybody is you want to be on a committee that is coming forward, then we should let everybody know.
Deputy Mayor Mike Ross who was among the three council members named said the opportunity to express interest had been there for a few days, since the agenda had been released on July 10 or ever earlier.
"The facts are this agenda came out a week ago," he said. "Not one councillor sent an email asking to be on this committee. The names were put forward and we are about to decide as council. The fact is no one expressed an interest until this minute.
"The only issue is some grandstanding," added Ross.
McGinn immediately noted a point of order.
"You're accusing us of grandstanding when we're asking for clarification," she said.
Ross apologized and added, "The point is they had opportunity to voice their opinions a week ago and they now come forward to be approved by council. But the fact is no one came forward. "
Gordon suggested that the issue could be addressed by an amendment to the procedural policy. McGinn agreed with the idea.
Coun. Jon Main, who is the second councillor named on the committee said he was eager to get started on the project.
"I really look forward to being engaged with this," he said. "It's fortunate to be nominated. As everyone knows I have a very keen interest in urban planning."
Coun. Cher Cunningham completes the triad of elected official on the steering committee.
