Committee of Whole Meeting Aug. 27, 2012

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  Committee of the Whole Meeting

Monday Aug. 27, 2012

Shaw Auditorium, 4:30 PM

80 Commercial Street, Nanaimo

NOTE: Change of Location!!
No Longer At City Hall 

New Name COW
(No longer FPCOW)

There are many items on this agenda of interest, unfortunately it is not going to be broadcast and sometimes the local media don't give COW meetings the same coverage they do a regular council meeting.One of the items on the agenda is staff recommending council give direction with regards preparing the financial plan for the next five years. Apparently the first budget will not be presented until Nov. 26th this year as staff are installing a new budget program.

It will be interesting to see how the strategic plan directions will be incorporated into the preparation of the budget.

It is also noteworthy that no one seems to be talking about the Core Services Review, which was one of the reasons for doing the Strategic Plan.

Council  recently approved a change which requires all delegations speaking to an interest not on the agenda be heard at the COW meeting instead of a regular council meeting. This means that if it is not telecast there is little chance Nanaimo residents will ever hear the matter as COW meetings are held at 4:30 in the afternoon, meaning fewer people will be able to attend, also the press coverage of these meetings is spotty at best.

While all councilors say they are in favour of transparency, it is only by their actions you can decide if they mean what they say, or are just spouting good sounding election promises, which mean nothing after elected.

You can view the agenda for this meeting HERE.