I attended the ‘Special’ Council meeting last night primarily to hear about the agenda items related to the Striking Committee and Advisory Committees. I am so glad I went!
I also attended the Council meeting in September 2018 when the Advisory Committee structure was approved. The previous Council reviewed Committee functions and the time commitment for Councillors to participate in so many committees. With a reduced number of Councillors, this made sense and a more streamlined approach was recommended. Now this new Council appears to want to reverse this decision by adding or reinstating some Committees. None of this is decided yet- but a notice to amend the Bylaw will be posted December 18 at the regular Council meeting as per the required procedural bylaw.
Last night there was an additional request proposed – to review the Terms of Reference for the Advisory Committees and extend the application deadline. The rationale for doing so was not very strong, in my opinion, except that the Terms of Reference were “done by the previous Council”.
I applied to be on an Advisory Committee and carefully read the Terms of References at the time of applying to ensure I understood the scope of responsibilities and the best fit for my interests and abilities. I followed procedure and submitted accordingly. If Council revises the Terms of Reference, the current applicants will likely need to reapply, as we applied for a ‘different’ committee. This illustrates great disrespect for those Mississippi Mills citizens who followed the procedure and applied in November. The optics suggest that the majority of Council will favour certain candidates who were perhaps late applying and /or are being recruited now to sit on Advisory Committees. This taints the entire process.
I would suggest that if you are insulted and dismayed too, contact your Council member and the Mayor.
Here’s how –
Go to ‘Meet Your Council’ page from MM website www.mississippimills.ca/en/townhall/meetyourcouncil.asp
Sincerely Sherryl Smith, Pakenham
