March 27, 2012 Council Meeting

At this weeks council meeting, Councillors Riddell and Wlodarczak brought forward a number of proposed policies on Election Campaigns, Priority Fund Expenditures, Communications, Social Media, and Protocol.

The proposed policies are on the County website  under Departments/Legislative and Legal/ Council Meetings/ Reports or http://www.strathcona.ca/files/Files/at-lls-arm-120327-report9.1.pdf

All but one of the policies presented got unanimous Council accolades and approval. For a live view of the discussion view the taped webcast.

The Priority Fund Expenditures Policy was postponed until April 10, 2012 and I am hoping that residents contact their Councillors’ with comments on this policy, so that we will walk into that debate with the best possible suggestions.

I have advocated strongly for fiscal restraint and accountability, and have been vocal on Priority Fund Expenditures since I was first elected.

I was concerned enough about the use of public tax payers’ dollars for these expenditures ($30,000 per year per Council member) that I asked Council to consider eliminating the fund and rolling that money back into the general budget in 2007. At that time there were absolutely no controls around distribution of this money other than a request from the Councillor had to come before Council for a vote. Shortly after that, Councillors’ were told that they must have a written request to put before Council.

I wanted to see tightened regulations and so developed a pilot project.  I asked a number of residents to form an advisory committee to create a system for greater accountability. The Building Strong Communities Funding Committee, as they became known, developed formal written applications with required project reports. They evaluated Ward 2 projects and then made recommendations to me. Significant portions of my ward Priority Funds are allocated under this system.

The proposed policy for Priority Funds is an improvement over the current guideline which is basically: 'write a letter of request to your Councillor or the entire Council and expect a stamped approval'. However, there are some areas in the policy that members of the public have voiced concern over.

Right now, informal community groups do get funds for neighbourhood enhancement projects- such as community gardens and perimeter fence painting.

However, the proposed policy states that groups must be registered or have a nonprofit status. This is a significant barrier for grassroots groups to get together and create a project that may be very necessary but not long term. These monies sometimes encourage neighbours to evolve into more established groups – as has happened in both the Cloverbar Neighbourhood Association and the Gilmore Park Community League in the past three years. That to me is the true spirit of the Priority Funds.

The new policy advocates returning all unused funds to the general revenue at the end of each Councillor’s term. This could result in a spending spree at the end of the term and it may also raise issues of vote buying. The March cut off pre-election will help curtail that. But some residents are confused as to why the money would disappear at terms end when it is allocated to the Ward for neighbourhood and project initiatives. “The fund should be designated to the community not the elected official. The Councillors should be care takers of the public trust not nobles dispensing monetary favours (from tax payers dollars)!”

Some organizations are very concerned about the proposed policy guideline of one request per fiscal year which cannot be in the same year as a County grant. This proposed guideline could impact playground applications, and organizations that have previously received Priority Funding.

In general, the proposed policy lists how funds can and cannot be used, but does not address who is going to monitor and ensure accountability. It suggests the expenditures be listed on the Councillors page but a few residents have asked for a link on the County homepage that list ALL priority funding expenditures on one page.  This would also make it very easy to compare expenditures across council. There is more accountability when the public watches.

Do any other municipalities have funds of this magnitude allocated by elected officials? Not that I know of. Indeed I still struggle with the justification of such a fund at all.

Community awareness and comment on Council policies are important. I urge you to contact your elected official with your opinions before April 10– when this comes forward to Council again.

I welcome your views at 780.464.8002; cell 780.267.3137; carr@strathcona.ca; @CouncillorCarr on twitter and www.councillorCarr.com

County Council Meeting - March 6, 2012

Council approved a variety of reports from departments. Information on all of the background reports and minutes are available here.

Webcast

To get the full flavour of how decisions are made tune into the webcast. The webcast is timed and titled so that you can refer immediately to your topic of interest.

Strathcona County Emergency Services (SCES)

The annual report revealed that there were more 911 calls, fewer outside fires, more structure fires, more vehicle collisions and an increasing number of Alberta Health Service calls and Medical First Response calls. 

Residents have heard a lot of media concern regarding ambulances being forced to wait for extraordinary long periods at hospitals. In these situations, our ambulance, if at an Edmonton hospital, is then directed by Alberta Health Services to the nearest call – whether it is in our municipality or not. If this leaves our municipality short of ambulances – emergency teams from other municipalities are sent into our area to answer our 911 call. Unfortunately, those teams are not always equipped and trained to the degree that our SCES is. The only good news here is that, so far our Emergency Services have managed to respond to 90% of Strathcona County calls. In fact, by strategic planning and use of Medical First Response teams, our performance and response times rank as Strathcona County as one of the top Alberta municipalities.    

RCMP Detachment Priorities for 2012

Superintendent Steinke reported the four top priorities for the Strathcona County detachment as being Traffic Safety, Drug Abuse, Property Crime as well as Domestic and Family Violence. Given last Council meetings annual statistics report, these priorities will resonate well with most residents. 

Victim Services

Strathcona County residents are fortunate to have a list of outstanding agencies to turn to when their lives get turned upside down. Victim Services is one of those groups. Last year over 927 residents received support from the police based unit. Forty highly trained volunteer advocates provided nearly 12,000 hours of twenty four hour assistance to residents. They work closely with Safe Place, SAFFRON, and other service agencies to help put lives back together.

They came to Council to announce their first annual ‘Moving Forward Run’. Residents should put this family information fair, BBQ and Run in their calendar for April 22^nd. www.runningroom.com

Seniors Advisory Committee to Council

It is always great to get updates from our public members. Chair Sue Smith introduced her committee and recommendations for 2012. The committee will focus on informing seniors all over the County about programs and services available with an emphasis on information sessions on financial benefits and subsidies. 

Field Sports will see increased opportunities

Council amended the Capital Budget to include revitalization of various sports fields’ diamonds for $675,000. This money will be used to reconfigure Centennial Park Diamond #5 for Midget and Bantam Baseball; re-align diamonds at Davidson Creek and Heritage Hills; and construct two new baseball diamonds at Emerald Hills. This work is going to mean a need for teams to work together and work around construction. Council has had reassurance that all stakeholders that are impacted now or in the future will be approached and worked closely with to ensure that there is equitable treatment and opportunity for the youth and adult teams that play baseball, softball and slo pitch in those areas now. I did request that administration support these organizations to attain corporate funding, CFIP and other available grants to leverage taxpayers’ investment into the renewal of sports fields.

Glen Allan Entrance Feature Supported by Council

Strathcona County is a young municipality and it’s residents have not experienced a great deal of infill activity. That is happening now in Glen Allan. A developer has been given permits to build 13 single residential lots on the original farmstead at Baseline and Glenbrook Blvd. Many of the surrounding residents have contacted the County with concerns over increased density, traffic and the elimination of green space. Realistically, this type of development will happen sooner or later. Developers in newer neighbourhoods see the value of Neighbourhood identity and build magnificent entrance features. Given that this development is small, the developer has been required by Council to build and landscape only one modest new entrance sign and relocate the existing one. This seems to be a good example of why neighbourhood identification with entrance signs should not be reliant on the largesse of developers and I understand that policy will be coming to Council soon.  

E News Bulletin

I send out an E News Bulletin four times a month to residents. It is an opportunity for me to inform you of events and matters of interest to your family and neighbours in a timely manner. These electronic news flashes also help me to get your input and touch base with you. You are welcome to sign up at carr@strathcona.ab.ca