Nanaimo Council Passes Governance Review

Nanaimo City Council Spent $100,000 On What???

During the discussions about adopting the Governance Policy 'Guidelines' included in The Governance Review report, follows are some of the comments from councillors and staff.

Paraphrasing:

Mr. Howat : there is nothing in these guidelines that is not already in the Community Charter

Councillor Brennan: nothing has to be signed by councillors, they would just have to explain why they wouldn't sign it. This just puts what is said in the Charter into plain language.

Councillor Johnstone: I wish I had had this document when I first came to council

Councillor Greves: these are only guidelines.

Councillor Pattje: when we were first going over these things, I thought, why am I here, this is just common sense and common courtesy as to how we deal with each other.

Councillor Greves: it's like what you have the bad kids at school sign so they will behave.

So, if I've got this straight, this city council and senior city staff had to blow off another $100,000 to get three consultants to clarify what their roles and responsibilities are, as they are spelled out in the Community Charter. Is that right??? They couldn't figure it out all by themselves?