City of Vernon committee raises concerns over staff workload

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: March 02, 2012 1:00 AM
Vernon’s committee structure has grown and that has some politicians demanding changes. The city will form a committee to examine the concerns of people with mobility issues. “We have 38 committees already. Can we combine some of these committees?” said Coun. Catherine Lord. “The more committees you have, the more time people spend at them and the less that gets done.” Lord believes too many committees are open-ended in terms of how often they meet, and she would like a specific time span for them to conclude their mandate. “I’d like to see less committees because it costs a lot in staff time.” Mayor Rob Sawatzky admits the city’s desire to be responsive to residents creates challenges in terms of workload. “We want to be engaged with the public but there’s only seven of us,” he said of council members. “There will be more requests for committees and we need to look at it.” Coun. Juliette Cunningham suggests not all committees need to gather once a month. “If you look at the frequency of meetings, it may take some of the pressure off,” she said. The accessibility committee is being created after Independent Living Vernon expressed concerns that residents with mobility issues have difficulties accessing some buildings, transit and gas stations. “This is a fundamental issue,” said Cunningham. “They need to be heard and right now they don’t feel they are being heard.”