Later today, I'll be releasing all the important local government meeting dates/times for the upcoming week but I want to discuss one meeting and 1 item on its' Agenda.
On Wednesday, March 24th at 5:00pm in the CRD Boardroom, the Central Cariboo Joint Committee will be meeting. For those who have forgotten or don't know, this is a Joint Committee formed by the membership of Williams Lake City Council and the CRD Directors for Areas D, E, F, J and K. They typically meet to discuss items that are of a sub-regional nature and this Committee typically meets once a month unless an item or items come up requiring a Special Meeting
One of the items on the Joint Committee's March 24th Agenda is a request from Area 'D' Director Deb Bischoff requesting that Electoral Area 'D' no longer be a member of the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Function.
As background, the Function was established in late November of 2008 after receiving consent, via AAP (Alternate Approval Process), from voters in Electoral Areas D, E, F and the City of Williams Lake
In 2009, discussions took place in the community around how to move forward with this Function, culminating with the Service Delivery Plan in September of 2009. However, Director Bischoff and her Alternate, John Andrews asked the Joint Committee to slow down the process for a year to ensure it was being done appropriately. Their requests were turned down by the Joint Committee, thus Director Bischoff's request to pull Area 'D' out of the Arts & Culture Function is now here
On January 30th, 2010 - Director Bischoff held her Town Hall meeting with her area residents' to discuss the CRD's 2010 Budget. One of the topics of discussion was the Arts and Culture Function and why First Nations are being allowed to apply for funding from this Function, but they are not required to pay into the Function.
The process to pull Area 'D' out of the Arts & Culture Function is that 2 of either:
i) Electoral Areas 'E' or 'F'
ii) City of Williams Lake
consent to Area 'D' withdrawing out of the Function. Director Bischoff has or will be making that formal request to Directors Mazur, Barnett and (Mayor) Cook over the next few days.
Should Director Bischoff not get consent from 2 of Directors' Mazur, Barnett or Cook, then that would be extremely unfortunate as this situation was completely unnecessary.
Had the Joint Committee consented to the request of Director Bischoff and her Alternate to take 1 additional year to work with all stakeholders' to make the Arts and Culture Function the very best it can be, then her request to withdraw Area 'D' from the Arts & Culture Function would not have reached the Joint Committee table. With the CRD Budget set to be formally adopted on Friday, March 26th, the requisition for the local Arts & Culture Function could possibly change (based upon what the Joint Committee does with Director Bischoff's request) and it could require taxpayers' in Electoral Areas E, F and the City of Williams Lake to pay more to maintain the 2010 Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Function's Budget
The discussion around the Joint Committee table on the subject of Area 'D' withdrawing from the Central Cariboo Arts & Culture Function will be interesting to follow on March 24th
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