Instead of boasting about the city’s accomplishments during his year-end address, Burnaby’s mayor talked about something a little different.
Derek Corrigan’s 13-minute speech on Dec. 4 was all about the committee system within city hall that does a lot of the behind-the-scenes work.
“I think sometimes when people see the council meetings, they see us go through things very quickly and they see a number of reports, and they say, ‘Where is the debate happening?’ I wanted to explain a lot of this work goes on at the committee level and involves a lot more people,” he told the NOW after the council meeting.
The groups – made up of local citizens, city councillors, business leaders and community members – advise council on important issues, whether that’s planning and development or public safety and parks and recreation.
In his speech, Corrigan praised each committee for “bringing forward to council recommendations on almost all areas of city activities,” and said it allows for a more efficient process.
“Other councils go on for hours and hours and hours, with people asking mundane questions that could have been asked without taking up council time. That, I think, is a big asset to have the committee system in place,” he said.
The mayor was “hopeful” about more people participating at the civic level.
To join as a board, committee or commission volunteer, applicants must apply online. Positions are done by appointment, and are always filled a year in advance, with recruitment taking place in the fall.
“This year, we saw a really good result, as we’ve just got a pile of applications. We don’t have a lot of positions this year, but we’ve got a lot of applications and really capable people who are applying from a broad range of backgrounds,” Corrigan said.
Last year, the City of Burnaby amalgamated half of its committees. (For example, the traffic safety committee and the mayor’s task force on graffiti were dissolved and are now part of the public safety committee.) Mayor and council did that so they city policies could be developed in a more effective way, with the bigger picture being considered, rather than keeping issues siloed in separate committees.
Despite a decrease in the number of vacancies, as result of the amalgamations, the number of applications has actually gone up, according to deputy city clerk Kate O’Connell.
She credits this to the online application system the city adopted in 2016.
“Each year, in addition to advertising, we are able to email previous applicants and encourage them to update their committee preference selections and volunteer profile and application,” O’Connell wrote in an email to the NOW.
In 2016, there were 87 applicants and only 11 vacancies, followed by 135 applicants the next year, and only 13 vacancies. For 2018, there were six positions to fill and 99 applicants.
Corrigan said residents shouldn’t be discouraged if they can’t make it onto a committee or commission, and should still attend the meetings.
“Sometimes people are intimidated to come as a delegation (to council); it’s very formal and you’ve only got a limited time. If you’ve got what you might think is a stupid question, you feel embarrassed asking in front of council. If you got to the committee, then people are going to make you feel comfortable, they’re going to sit down and give you a more in-depth answer.”
To learn more, visit tinyurl.com/BBYVolunteer.
