The first Mayor’s Message of 2017 was meant to “open discussion and encourage some renewed thinking on the topic of service delivery,” according to Sechelt Mayor Bruce Milne.
The monthly Mayor’s Message is posted to the district’s website and the first one of 2017 spoke to the plethora of elected officials and senior staff on local government bodies on the Sunshine Coast.
“Do we really need 22 elected individuals to manage local government for a population of less than 30,000? Do we need four chief administrators and an equal number of chief financial officers?” Milne asked.
“In my mind, there must be ways to maximize the value contributed by specialized work units such as human resources or information technology by sharing services among Gibsons, Sechelt, the Sechelt Indian Government District and the Regional District,” the message read.
Despite the recent announcement of Sechelt’s CAO leaving the municipality, Milne said the idea of sharing senior staff hasn’t been the focus of intergovernmental discussions.
“We have had some general, exploratory talks regarding some potential areas of common activity,” Milne said. “While some of this may be really simple [like] loaning equipment, other aspects would require public discussion and respect for existing arrangements, contracts, taxes and fees.”
Milne’s online message noted council intends to approach 2017 with an “open mind and a keen eye for opportunities to do our work differently,” and he told Coast Reporter he expects improvement in the way council handles things during the second half of their term.
As an example Milne said, “I think we can improve the committee work as it feeds into council decisions. There are times when it seems there is a disconnect between committee review and council reports, discussions and decisions.”
His online Mayor’s Message spoke to the fact that councillors have outlined some “concerns and frustrations” with challenges they’ve faced on council during the first half of their term, but Milne would not elaborate.
“Free and open discussions among councillors during workshop ‘retreats’ should remain confidential in my view,” he said. “We discuss our work, assess how things are going and how to improve.”
