How much openness and transparency do the candidates for Gibsons mayor and council support? The Coast Clarion asked all of them.
Opportunity for public input at council meetings in Gibsons has been lacking, and many people feel they have not been listened to at public hearings. The Coast Clarion sent a 10-question questionnaire to all 10 candidates for mayor and council to find out how they view openness, fairness and engagement with the public. These are Les Thomson’s answers.
1) Do you support several opportunities for public inquiries during council meetings?
Yes. Public inquiries allow us to make sure we have covered all grounds before decisions are made.
2) Do you support public inquiries about topics not on the agenda of council meetings?
Yes. It’s important council has the big picture in order to make the right decisions for our community. Often, other topics are indirectly important to the agenda being discussed. One should never hesitate to ask a question at any time during a process. I always say you can never have a stupid question, but you could get a stupid answer.
3) Should public inquiries, and the answers provided, be included in the minutes of council meetings?
Yes. Everything discussed should be documented in minutes and media correspondence.
4) Do you think an opportunity for public input before every vote at council meetings is a good idea?
Yes. This is a very important part of the decision-making process.
5) Should the minutes of council meetings include entire discussions and matters raised, including the names of the speakers?
Yes. It’s only fair to have the voices and discussion at a meeting recorded in full for the benefit of those who could not be present.
6) Do you think council members and the mayor should have a set time every week for members of the public to approach them on a personal basis?
Yes. This is a no-brainer to me; a good leader has the ability to hear every single person in the community. It’s amazing what you can learn by opening yourself up to people and allowing them to speak. It would be a priority for me that all council members devote time to listen to members of the community.
7) In your opinion, does council need to vote unanimously?
No. Voting unanimously sends a strong message to our community that we hear the community wants us to make a decision. However, often we forget that the part of the community that is silent can be heard as well. Hence, I am aware that sometimes we need to hear little voices in the background, too.
8) What is your view on public hearings? If a majority of the speakers express a certain opinion, what should council do?
Public hearings are the best way to hear people from the community; it is open, fair and honest. If we hear that a certain concern seems to be on people’s mind, it’s only fair to have mayor and council spend more time looking into the concern that has been raised. Going back to the drawing board to revisit an issue is a fair thing to do.
9) What is your view on providing town documents to the public when asked? Which categories should not be released, if any?
It’s prudent and very important to make town documents of any category available to the public at any given time. There is nothing to hide.
10) In your view, what are the best methods for council to achieve meaningful consultation with the public?
An open forum, a get-together, a picnic, an open-door policy for every single member of the community, emails, and working groups are some of the ways I would encourage council and the public to share constructive criticism.
Sharing our views with different government levels, both regionally and provincially, is an important way to having a community feel satisfied. I think it is important for the mayor and council to accept feedback from the community about our performance in order to make sure the team is on the right track. There should be a performance appraisal of council and staff that is open to the public; it is a tool that works very well and keeps civic members on their toes.