ADVISORY COMMITTEES – STRUCTURE, STAFF CONCERNS STAFF REPORT

ADVISORY COMMITTEES – STRUCTURE, STAFF CONCERNS

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated February 14, 2023 from the Chief Administrative Officer titled “Advisory Committees – Structure, Staff Concerns” be received.

PURPOSE OF REPORT:

To provide a brief overview of feedback on the Mayor’s January 2023 proposed advisory committee structure.

BACKGROUND:

• At the November 1, 2022 inaugural Council meeting, the issue of advisory committee restructuring was tabled to a future meeting.
• A staff report was provided to the November 8, 2022 Committee of the Whole meeting and it was discussed that the topic be forwarded to the upcoming strategic planning sessions.
• At its November 15, 2022 meeting, Council referred the topic of advisory committee restructuring to the two current advisory committees’ November 22, 2022 meetings.
• While no specific motions were made by the advisory committees, their input was provided back to Council at its December 6, 2022 meeting.

DISCUSSION:

A new term brings opportunities to consider changes, including with advisory committees while keeping in mind the overarching goal for these committees is the provision of value to Council as they steer the organization.

In reviewing the January 2023 proposal on the February 14, 2023 Committee of the Whole agenda provided by the Mayor, staff have identified several concerns as follows:

1. Membership – as noted in the November 8, 2022 report that describes the Town’s experience over many years and in recent reports from other municipalities, it may be challenging to find a diverse group of up to seven people to populate each of five or six advisory committees.
2. Chair – the proposal lists the Council member as a non-voting chairperson and notes that a co-chair will be chosen from the membership to run the meetings. In the current advisory committee arrangement, the Council members on advisory committees are liaisons and are not listed as chairpersons at all. We believe this was established to ensure Council members were liaison and committee members empowered in their role during meetings.
3. Minutes – in discussion with Corporate Officers in the region, only two municipalities (Highlands and Metchosin) have meetings wherein committee members themselves take minutes. All other municipalities have administrative staff support at meetings (see Attachment “A”). There is a legislated requirement that the corporate officer ensure that accurate minutes of council committees be prepared; as such any process used must satisfy this requirement.
4. Approval of Minutes – minutes of meetings should be approved by the membership, never by the chair alone.
5. Quorum – there must be a quorum established based on a minimum acceptable committee size.
6. Accessibility – the proposed advisory committee for accessibility will not be like any View Royal advisory committee as its mandate and membership are defined already in legislation. An upcoming staff report will describe requirements in this area.

CONCLUSION:

Staff want to ensure that any changes to the advisory committees’ structure are beneficial to Council in their role as Council steers the organization.

This work will require some time and careful thought. The benefit of Council’s input during the Strategic Plan discussions will be invaluable to aid in developing a strong advisory committee mandates and a platform on which staff can support the mandates and procedures for Council’s consideration.

TIME CRITICAL:

As described in the current “Advisory Committee Procedures”, the current advisory committee terms can extend until new members are appointed – or a new structure is rolled out.

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated February 14, 2023 from the Chief Administrative Officer titled “Advisory Committees – Structure, Staff Concerns” be received.

SUBMITTED BY: K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer