Letter to Minister Ben Stewart (Local Gov't Minister) on City of WL's 2009 Annual Report

This morning, I wrote to the Hon. Ben Stewart (Minister of Community & Rural Development) on concerns I had with the City of Williams Lake's 2009 Annual Report vis-a-vis the public. For the record, here's the letter in its' entirety:

Dear Minister Stewart

Re: City of Williams Lake 2009 Annual Report

According to Sections 97-99 of the Community Charter (Charter), all municipal governments are required to release an Annual Report, which is to include: (Section 98 (2) of the Charter)

• Audited Financial Statements for the previous year
• Tax Exemptions provided by a municipal council
• Municipal Services & Operations for the previous year
• Statement of Municipal Objectives for the upcoming year
• Any declaration of disqualifications

On Friday, June 18th, 2010, the City of Williams Lake released their 2009 Annual Report to the public (as a Council Meeting Agenda Item) with the Municipal Council of Williams Lake formally considering this report at its’ Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 meeting. As of this writing, I do not know if the City Council of Williams Lake has adopted this report. However, I would strongly suggest that Williams Lake City Council is right now in violation of Section 99(2) of the Charter, which states:

“The annual meeting must occur at least 14 days after the annual report is made available for public inspection under section 97”

I have gone back and reviewed all editions, going back to May, of both of the local papers (Williams Lake Tribune/Cariboo Advisor) and the City of Williams Lake has not done any advertising with regard to the City stating that an Annual Report is available for Public Inspection and when the Municipal Council of Williams Lake will meet to formally consider this report.

In addition, the Annual Report was released in electronic version and when I enquired City of Williams Lake Staff when the paper version of the Annual Report would be available for the public, I was told it would be made available on Wednesday, June 23rd, the day after Williams Lake City Council considered the report. I believe this to be in violation of a principle that access to municipal records should be in both forms – electronic and paper.

I request that your staff review this situation and work with the City of Williams Lake to see what deficiencies’ need correcting so they are not repeated next year

Should you or your staff desire to contact me to discuss this further, they or yourself can do so, in the following ways:

Email – sforseth@shaw.ca
Phone – (778) – 412-7282
Cell – (250) – 303-0951

Thank you for your consideration in this matter

Respectfully yours,

Steve Forseth
SF/sf

CC:

Kerry Cook – Mayor, City of Williams Lake
Donna Barnett – MLA, Cariboo-Chilcotin