 |
| BC Proclamation 2020 Local Government Awareness Week |
For those on Municipal Councils' (Mayors'/Councillors) -- they are our neighbours, family members, etc that are accessible and are answerable to you for all that goes right (and sometimes wrong), both every day and every 4 years at the ballot box at general local elections
For those in Rural Areas (or Electoral Areas) -- you elect 1 individual (or Area Director) to represent you on a Regional District Board whose population can range from as little as 300 to as many as 8,000 people and can easily have as few as 1 or 2 unincorporated communities or as many as a dozen unincorporated communities. As an Electoral Area Director, my strategy is to remain as accessible as possible - whether at community events or meetings or on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). Each Regional District Area Director will decide which approach works best for them. It is also important that Area Directors' maintain excellent relationships (fellow Area Directors', RD Chairs, MLA's MP's, Provincial Gov't Staff, etc) as Area Directors' don't have access to the same amount of local government staff resources that Mayors/Councillors would have access to...
In addition -- local governments are part of political networks called Area Associations, the Union of BC Municipalities and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities
The Area Associations (North Central Local Government Association, Southern Interior Local Government Association, Association of Kootenay Boundary Local Governments', Lower Mainland Local Government Association and finally, the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities) -- lobby for local government issues relevant to that area of the Province of BC
The UBCM or Union of BC Municipalities lobbies the BC Government on behalf of the 190 Local Governments in BC for common local government issues
FCM or Federation of Canadian Municipalities lobbies the Federal Government for the thousands of local governments across Canada, urban/rural and small/large
BC Local Government Staff are also part of a separate organization called Local Government Management Association of BC who lobbies for the professional training, retention, etc of local government managers/administrators in BC.
As a Cariboo Regional District Electoral Area Director (and also serving on the North Central Local Government Association Board of Directors' as a Director at Large since January 2019 and hopefully by the end of this year as its' 2nd Vice President) -- I have been able to build my knowledge base, skill set and relationships over the last 5 years and a little bit to serve my Area residents' to the best of my ability at the Cariboo Regional District Board table, whether at workshops, seminars, conventions or visiting local governments' across BC (at my personal expense) or simply monitoring local government agendas and their priorities across BC, as time permits...
While there are days of frustration (and sometimes passion getting me into trouble) -- I have enjoyed my time in local government thus far and thankful for many mentors in local government including RDFFG Chair Art Kaehn, Cariboo RD Board Chair Margo Wagner, Kamloops City Councillors Arjun Singh/Kathy Sinclair/Mike O'Reilly (who are all Thompson Nicola RD Directors as well), Columbia Shuswap RD Area Directors Paul Demenok (Area C) and Rene Talbot (Area D), Fraser Valley Area Directors Dennis Adamson (Area B) and Taryn Dixon (Area H) and too many others to list.... they help with issues that I may be dealing with and I am genuinely thankful for my own Area residents' who keep me grounded and share a laugh or two and allow me to "vent" in a respectful way when I need to, in order to stay healthy...
I have been (like many Area Directors in BC as well as my Cariboo RD colleagues) building my relationships with my indigenous neighbours at Xat'sull First Nations... While it will take many, many years to build up those relationships (and I'm sure I will stumble/fall from time to time) - I'm pleased to say that the Cariboo RD cooperates on a number of fronts with Xat'sull, whether support for Fire Protection/First Responder services from Wildwood VFD, Building Inspection, Solid Waste or contributing a small amount of money to the operation of the Xat'sull Heritage Village. I look forward to future ways to cooperate more fully with them, as appropriate...
Also, in a special way -- I'd like to thank sincerely my Area's Alternate Director, Phyllis Webstad who also does great work with Orange Shirt Day. While extremely busy with her personal life and the work on the Orange Shirt Day Society -- she is able to fit in representing me at the Cariboo RD Board table, when necessary from time to time or simply chatting over the phone when I need advice. Especially useful when I need some advice on First Nations issues as she is a member of the Canoe/Dog Creek Band (Stswecem’c Xgat’tem) which they are one of the four Northern Secwepemc Bands -- the other three are:
i) Xat'sull (Soda Creek)
ii) T'exelc (Williams Lake)
iii) Tsq'escenemc (Canim Lake)
Finally - I would be remiss if I didn't thank my predecessor, Deb Bischoff, who served as the Cariboo RD Area 'D' Director from 2008-2014 and encouraged my participation in local government (at the time as a young person) whether on the Cariboo RD's Area D Advisory Planning Commission, as the Cariboo RD Area D Alternate Director from February 2013 until my election in November 2014 as the Cariboo RD Area D Director. If it wasn't for her and former Williams Lake Mayors' Rick Gibson and Scott Nelson (currently a Williams Lake City Councillor), I probably wouldn't be elected now...
Let's recognize all of the elected officials, local government staff and many others that make local governments tick in BC... you are all appreciated for what you bring to the table and please keep up the good work for the residents' of BC...
For more on Local Government Awareness Week 2020 in BC - click here
SF
No comments:
Post a Comment