Borough Councils will give real say over local decisions

UPDATE:

Since writing this blog, Jim Watson's proposal for a City-wide Borough Council has been released. I would like to make it clear that while I wholeheartedly support the idea of a Borough Council, my proposal, which I will release in more detail later in the campaign, does NOT propose the creation a new level of bureaucracy and it is NOT linked to the reduction in the size of Council as Mr. Watson has done with his proposal. It will however, call for Borough Councils to remain accountable to City Council as the Planning Committee is now, while also allowing for local issues to be debated at the local level first before going to Council for approval, where any city-wide concerns may be discussed and debated.

Stay turned for more from me on this subject.

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I woke up the other day as I do most days by checking my email on my Blackberry before getting up. This summer has been slow for news stories about the municipal election, but Sunday morning, I was pleasantly surprised to read that Mayoral candidate Jim Watson is supporting the idea of a Borough Council as a way of healing the city’s rural rift.

Over the last 12 months I have been discussing different governance options with community groups, residents and governance experts across the city because I believe the most pressing issue facing the City of Ottawa is Decision Making—how decisions are made, whose involved and what mechanisms and tools can be utilized to fix the dysfunction and poor decisions that we are currently experiencing.

How we make decisions determines everything we do—our objectives, priorities, budgets, investments, long term planning—everything.

A city disconnected from its residents

Everywhere you go in Ottawa, people agree that there is a disconnect between residents and communities on the one hand and City Hall on the other. Over the last 10 years most communities in Ottawa have felt the cold hand of amalgamation. Many speak of a lack of response from City officials, the last minute public consultations that end up being dismissed and ignored or the reduced quality of service delivery and rising taxes. It is obvious to me that the centralization of administrative and operational functions at Ottawa City Hall—brought about by amalgamation—is the main cause of the dissatisfaction and disconnect many residents are currently experiencing.

While City Hall has gained power, the residents of Ottawa have lost the influence they once enjoyed. In an amalgamated Ottawa, residents are not encouraged to get involved and they are not engaged early on in a project. When they are consulted, their feedback is often marginalized or ignored. Public consultations are used as opportunities to ‘pitch’ the public rather than seek feedback.

In Nepean, our communities have been cut in half by artificial ward and electoral district boundaries, that weaken our political influence and reduce our community’s cohesion. It’s more and more difficult to influence decisions that affect us at the local level. After all, it is here that we have chosen to set down roots, invest financially and raise our families.

This is our city. It is our tax dollars that make this city go. Any governance model that does not include the public is broken and is in need of being fixed.

I urge the residents of Knoxdale-Merivale to embrace the idea of borough councils because it is a tool that will help restore community pride and interest in what is happening in Nepean.

How do we fix it so that resident can get involved?

I would take Watson’s proposal and go further. We fix governance issues when we make it easier for residents to engage in a real two-way discussion with City officials and by creating public forums like borough or community councils to allow residents a place to discuss and debate matters of local concern. While Watson has suggested a borough council for the rural communities, I believe we need borough councils for every region of the city, including Nepean. This does not mean going back to the old regional set up or adding an additional level of government, but it does mean that people living in Greater Nepean will be able to work together again to safeguard and improve their communities.

In addition, I believe a borough or community council must have jurisdiction over local planning matters. Both the City of Toronto and Halifax, Nova Scotia for example, use community councils to provide residents with a local forum to discuss issues of local interest.

In Toronto, the city website says that “Community Councils consider the City's business of a local nature at the community level, and provide a forum for local input into Council's decision-making process. Their responsibilities generally include making recommendations to City Council on local planning and development matters, as well as neighbourhood matters including traffic plans, parking regulations and exemptions to certain City bylaws (i.e., sign, fence, ravine and tree bylaws).”

If done properly I believe borough councils can increase participation and interest in city government, improve decision making and help make councillors more accountable to voters.

The benefits of Borough Councils

A borough council structure would allow for certain classes of matters to be decided on a community or borough basis by the councillors responsible for that borough. This structure of grouping wards into boroughs would also facilitate community consultation and improve accountability. The ability to handle certain classes of planning approvals and other decisions at a borough level would also improve council efficiency and better reflect local concerns.
Suburban issues could be addressed by suburban councillors and would not be subject to politicizing by councillors from other areas. The same would also hold true for downtown and rural issues. Of course, not all matters would be decided in this way, and in setting up this system it would be necessary to work out which matters could be addressed at the borough level and which at full council.
The borough system is a better alternative to de-amalgamation because it gives Ottawa the benefits of a unified structure where one is needed, plus the benefits of local control and decision making where appropriate. It is better than a return to the old regional system because it retains a unified administrative and service structure and a stripped down political structure (eg. no local mayors posturing and feuding) while still providing the benefits of a more decentralized decision-making structure. And, it does not mean that we are creating a new level of bureaucracy. It will be up to us to define how it works and therefore, it can be anything we want or do not want it to be.

Clearing the way for good people to shine

It has been suggested that the only thing we need to fix the problems at City Hall is to elect good councillors. While electing good councillors is always desirable, a flawed governance model can prevent good councillors from succeeding and realizing their potential. Its hard to believe that we don’t have a number of good councillors right now. Perhaps, the problems go deeper than just personnel.

It’s time to try a new approach. I believe borough councils are one of the answers we need to put in place in order to move our city forward so that it better reflects the character, values and needs of its residents.

James O’Grady

Listen to James discuss borough councils on CBC Radio.