Re: Editorial Alliston Herald, April 21 “Do the Job.”

There seems to be a fundamental lack of understanding as to the system by which we operate as a council and under which we have operated for quite some time. In order to provide some clarity there really are three distinct parts of the system consisting of the town’s advisory committees, the committee of the whole and council. In addition, members of council are also often appointed as town representatives to outside bodies such as the Gibson Cultural Centre, conservation authorities, and the library board.

Under the town’s procedural by-law our existing decision-making structure calls for the whole of council to sit as committee of the whole to collectively consider matters that will ultimately result in a decision by council. Committee of the whole provides a more informal forum for the public to advise council of their thoughts, issues or concerns relating to such matters.

The role of advisory committees, which are made up primarily of members of the public, is to provide advice and recommendations from time to time to the committee of the whole on matters related to a specific area of interest such as accessibility, heritage, parks and recreation, environmental, economic development to assist the committee of the hole in their recommendations to council. The important input from the advisory committees comes from members of the public, recognizing that members of council have the opportunity to make their input at both the committee of the whole meeting and the council meeting. Council members are really there to provide a liaison or communication role. It is not the role of advisory committees to make decisions or take actions themselves but rather to inform and advise council on matters within their purview as they arise.

In addition to the advice from the public and advisory committees, it is the role and responsibility of the town staff to provide professional and technical advice and recommendations to the committee of the whole and council to assist in them in the decision-making process.

Recently the attendance of members of council at advisory committee meetings has been discussed. Unfortunately the calculations of attendance that have been attempted have been based on incomplete information. The Town only has attendance records for the committees that town staff keeps the records for.

There are a number of other bodies including the county, conservation authorities and the Gibson Cultural Centre that have had extensive meetings, for which the town does not have any records of number of meetings or attendance. It is unfortunate that no consideration was given to members of council contributions to these bodies in the article.

The core duty and responsibility of elected members of council is to attend committee of the whole and council meetings and make decisions respecting the business of this municipality. Council members are accountable for the decisions they make to the electorate of the municipality. We all know that all council members go way beyond these core duties and contribute to the good of the community in many many ways.

Council members involvement on advisory committees is but one small piece of all the areas within which council members work. To focus too much on that one area to the exclusion of all the other contributions made is providing a very skewed perspective.

It is important for all members of this council to balance their workload in the discharge of their responsibilities to the electorate who put them in office and it is up to them individually to determine how involved in community activities, advisory committees, service groups etc. they can be and where they wish to direct their energies. One type of activity is not more important or better than another, rather they are all important.

As has been said on many occasions it is up to the individual member of council to determine how to best serve the community as an elected representative.

If a workload becomes too onerous or a council member believes that they are carrying an extra heavy load then all that would be required would be a reduction in their responsibilities to bring it back in line. A complete overhaul of the system is simply not warranted.

Responsibilities for the advisory committees have been assumed by other members of council. Council values the hard work of our advisory committees and values their advice as we try to make the town the best place to live, work and raise a family.

In conclusion it is important to recognize that all members of council are working very hard at serving the public who have elected them.

Mayor Mike MacEachern,
Town of New Tecumseth