Kincardine Council is moving forward with recommendations for a governance review that would reduce the number of meetings per month, and change the way committees meet.
Councillor Doug Kennedy said that he was concerned that the change would prevent the municipality’s committees from meeting.
Manager of Legislative Services and Clerk Jennifer Lawrie explained that the change wouldn’t remove or disband committees, but instead give them more clear focus.
“I think what we’ve seen in previous terms of council is that committees didn’t have clear mandates and didn’t have clear timelines, and so what would happen is that they would have these great ideas, but that’s not what council was looking for at the time, so council wasn’t able to move those ideas forward.”
Lawrie added that the streamlined approach would not only provide clearer mandates but also help move good ideas for operational priorities and strategic priorities forward when the time is right.
“I think now it’s more the committees are being struck by council when they need them, when they want them, and they’re very laser-focused; ‘what ideas do we need?'”
Mayor Kenneth Craig also added that it in terms of finding community members to join committees, it’s easier to find people who want to commit for a shorter amount of time, rather than be locked into a four-year commitment.