{"id":11018,"date":"2020-09-21T16:47:09","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T20:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=11018"},"modified":"2020-09-22T17:06:33","modified_gmt":"2020-09-22T21:06:33","slug":"easc-rejects-srd-staff-report-on-directors-input","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/easc-rejects-srd-staff-report-on-directors-input\/","title":{"rendered":"EASC rejects SRD staff report on Director’s input"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Roy L Hales<\/p>\n

The latest version of a Strathcona Regional District staff report on directors input into the reporting process was\u00a0not received by the Electoral Areas Services committee<\/a>. Cortes Island Regional Director Noba Anderson said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve ever voted in opposition to receipt of a report in 12 years.\u201d Regional Directors\u00a0Jim Abram<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Brenda Leigh<\/a>\u00a0joined her in opposition.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Should Staff consult with directors?<\/h2>\n<\/figure>\n

The key issue was whether staff should consult with directors before bringing forward reports about their areas.<\/p>\n

Regional Director Gerald Whalley<\/a>\u00a0thinks the current system works, \u201c \u2026 The way I look at this, and I think it is work considering, is that when staff gives us a report, as the Electoral Areas Services Committee, on various topics that we are previously unaware of, we should consider this as written notification with the director. Because once it comes here, the director is free to do whatever they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

They can accept staff\u2019s recommendation, defeat it, or make a totally different motion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI agree,\u201d said\u00a0Chief Administrative Officer David Leitch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Regional

Electoral Area A (Gerald Whalley) covers approximately 9,050 square kilometres and is comprised of the Villages of Gold River, Tahsis & Zeballos \u2013 courtesy SRD website<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Save a lot of time & frustration<\/h2>\n

Directors Abram, Anderson and Leigh believe it would save a lot of time and frustration if directors were involved in the process.<\/p>\n

Anderson said she understand staff\u2019s concern about directors having too much influence in reports, but she missed the era when staff and directors worked together as a team.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Regional

Electoral Area B (Noba Anderson) includes all of Cortes Island and the surrounding Archipelago Islands and is the smallest region within the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) at just under 330 square kilometres \u2013 courtesy SRD website.<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201c\u2026 There were more regular conversations between staff working on reports and myself about things that were happening in this area. I could offer any insight. Staff could take it or leave it. I certainly was not strong arming them, but my knowledge of the area was sought and considered valuable to integrate into recommendations \u2026 \u201c explained Anderson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s no longer the case. What happens now is staff makes their best possible recommendations, quite often without a lot of knowledge about what\u2019s happening on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Decisions made in ignorance<\/h2>\n
\n
\n

\"Regional

Electoral Area C (Jim Abram) covers approximately 10,650 square kilometres, including Quadra Island, Read Island, Redonda Island, Port Neville, Refuge Cove, Hardwick Island, East & West Thurlow Islands & Mainland Inlets \u2013 courtesy SRD website<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

After reports reach the board, the area director is in a minority and the decision is made by \u201ca lot of other directors who don\u2019t know a lot about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost never know what is happening between the Regional District and the community unless it either comes on the agenda, or I hear about it from my community members. That is really disheartening to me,\u201d said Anderson.<\/p>\n

Abram agreed, \u201cI absolutely support every word that she said. I couldn\u2019t have said it any better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole report is just flying in the face of that. It\u2019s at the core of the [dysfunctional] problems with the SRD.\u201d said Regional Director Brenda Leigh.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Regional

Electoral Area D (Brenda Leigh) covers just under 1,850 square kilometres. The area runs from Jubilee Parkway to the Oyster River and east into the Strathcona Provincial Park \u2013 courtesy SRD website<\/p><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

So, in a 3 to 1 vote, the Electoral Areas Services Committee decided to not receive this staff report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Roy L Hales The latest version of a Strathcona Regional District staff report on directors input into the reporting process was\u00a0not received by the Electoral Areas Services committee. Cortes Island Regional Director Noba Anderson said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve ever voted in opposition to receipt of a report in 12 years.\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":11030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[225],"tags":[314,369,1508],"radio":[252],"origine":[280,266,231],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11018"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11018"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=11018"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=11018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}