A New Year, a new way of doing things

AWARE Simcoe’s 2011 wish list
Compiled by Kate Harries with contributions from Sandy Agnew, Mariane Cancilla, Don Morgan, Stephen Ogden, Nickolas Rowe, Ann Truyens and Keith Wood
Dear municipal councillor
This is AWARE Simcoe’s wish list for 2011
It’s all about process.
Give us a level playing field, with no one bending your ear behind closed doors, let us hear you debate the difficult questions – and while we may not always agree with your decisions, we won’t be frustrated by a process that leaves us outside in the dark.
As Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian wrote on Augusts 21, 2009:  “I cannot stress enough the importance of freedom of information. If citizen are to participate meaningfully in the democratic process and hold politicians and bureaucrats accountable, they must have timely access to this type of information”.
Transparency
We wish for more recorded votes, to be posted online where we can find them easily because want a better understanding of where you stand and how you are doing your job.
We wish for videotaped sessions of council meetings to be posted online and/or broadcast live on cable television.
We wish for politicians to make decisions and for staff to carry them out, instead of the other way round. We wish for politicians to speak for and to us, instead of retaining PR staff and consultants to sell decisions to the public.
We wish for elected officials who tell the truth, the whole truth and don’t try to spin information to make themselves look good.
We wish for elected officials who don’t fraternize with developers or accept free meals, golf games and other gratuities designed to garner favour.
We wish for longer advance notice for council agenda items.
Accountability
We wish for Q&A time at the end of each council meeting so the public can have direct interaction with councillors.
We wish for answers to all phone calls, emails and snail mail. Many of us can tell when our emails are deleted unread – and we’re not impressed.
We wish for a much more friendly and ongoing relationship between the voters and our politicians.
Simcoe County
We wish for a reorganization of the SC Council Chambers. It could not be more inimical to the public. The councillors have their backs to us. We can’t see who’s speaking and we can’t read their nameplates. We often can’t hear what they’re saying because they don’t use their microphones. The message is unambiguous: We don’t care about you. Please stay away. And be sure not to talk to us after the meeting (the public has to get down from the upper level and go through two doors to have a word with a councillor. Or wait till he/she comes out).
We wish for County staff to handle Freedom of Information requests in a similar manner as the Ministry of the Environment. An official should respond promptly to confirm receipt and if necessary provide assistance so the request can be answered as soon and as completely as possible. Staff should not treat an FOI request as an inconvenience nor should their aim to be to withhold information that could be embarrassing. The County should not treat FOI requests as litigation in order to make the request an in-camera item. The County should not hire lawyers to handle their FOI requests. The County should not stamp documents confidential to avoid disclosure.
We wish for the Site 41 MODFLOW computer model to be released. We wish for all Site 41 videotapes taken by and for Rob.McCullough to be destroyed.
As for the ultimate disposition of Site 41, some of us wish for the land to be sold back to the local farmers before the end of 2011. Others wish for Dr. Willliam Shotyk’s dream of a water education centre – and at least for County Council to allow him to make a presentation on the proposal. We wish for council to ensure that no decision is made without full consideration of the wishes of local residents and water stakeholders.
We wish for leadership on the waste issue and for residents to be allowed to help find solutions. We wish for the new council to set a goal of zero waste in Simcoe County, including the ICI sector. We wish for Gord McKay to be theChair of the Waste Management subcommittee. We wish for all plastics, and textiles to be added to the list of recyclables this year.
We wish for a better website with easy access to meeting information, and names and contact information for senior staff.
We wish for the County to forego the four-colour booklets and send us simple black and white printouts with our tax notices.
We wish for politicians to show a lot more concern for our environment.
We wish you a Happy New Year.