Starting off on the right foot in any new job (or term of office) is important. So in that spirit two suggestions for mayors, councillors and school trustees after yesterdays elections. Local governments and boards need to stop hiding behind closed doors for in camera meetings as often as they do and start stamping Approved on access to information requests far more frequently than they have done. Both will go a long way in setting the right tone with citizens from day one. Couple of hints to guide your decisions: 1. According to the Union of B.C. Municipalities there are four reasons that councils must go in camera and over a dozen reasons why they ‘may.’ Keep it to the musts and throw open the doors for the mays. Sunshine is a great disinfectant. A great resource on in camera meetings can be found at the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman at: https://ombudsman.on.ca/Investigations/Municipal-Meetings.aspx. 2. If staff are tempted to stamp rejected on one of those access to information requests, ask yourself how comparable decisions have been adjudicated on appeal. If those rejections have been overturned, skip the appeal and stamp it approved. And consider cutting to the chase: why wait for the applications to release public information? Take a pro-active stance and post it online instead. See above on sunshine. PS: And congratulations on your election and congratulations to all the candidates who put their name forward across BC. #cdnfoi #vanpoli #bcpoli
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 16:30:01 +0000
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