Nanaimo-Info-blog: Nanaimo City Hall Killing Democracy!!

Reduces Public Participation
Muzzles Councillors Who Don’t Agree

Two alarming documents are currently being considered by this city council, which will affect how the city get’s run for decades and they do nothing to comfort the average taxpayer. They will effectively reduce the opportunity for public input and can be used to control councilors who may be in strong disagreement with a council decision.

I have personally watched the committee meetings where both of these documents were considered in their draft form and as a big fan of democracy, the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up! That is no exaggeration. My biggest fear, is that once again the average Nanaimo voter will simply continue to snooze as their ability to participate in the process is eroded further. The over use and mis-use of the in-camera process has been a hallmark of this council, and if implemented, these two new documents will pretty much shut out most of the public. In my opinion, based on different comments I heard at both of these meetings, there is a disturbing tone held by the majority of council as to how city governance should be conducted.

I urge anyone who wishes to hang onto the last shreds of public input in city affairs to visit the city website and download copies of ‘Draft Procedure Bylaw of the City of Nanaimo, Revised March 18, 2014’ and the ‘City of Nanaimo Governance Framework Roles & Responsibilities”.

If you think the public is being shut out of the decision making process now, with secret in-camera meetings, minutes of these meetings that are incomplete as to what was said and what advice was given by staff, then brother, if these two documents are adopted without revision ……. you ain’t seen nothing yet.

These documents, if adopted will have affect on councilors elected this fall, and frankly, I think both should be put on the shelf until after the next election, and these documents need to be a hot item in the next civic election.

City Mayor & City Manager Not Qualified?

Between our Mayor and City Manager the taxpayers of Nanaimo are paying over $300,000 per year to govern the city of Nanaimo. The Mayor is in his sixth year in office, and I believe our city manager has over 20 years experience with the city, yet they had to hire three outside consultants to tell them how to do their jobs. Is it just me, or does anyone else think that people being paid that kind of money should be past the intern stage?

Listen Carefully to the opinions expressed by top city staff!

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