City of Powell River Mayor Dave Formosa made a few changes at the first regular council meeting held on December 15.
Senior staff have moved from their usual seats at a separate desk below the council dais to sit next to Formosa. Stan Westby, chief administrative officer, is on his right and Marie Claxton, city clerk, is on his left.
Formosa, who did not wear the chain of office during the meeting, said the move was to enable communication between senior staff and council. “I thought it might be a good idea to have them up here with us, more accessible,” he said.
Formosa said staff were there as a resource to council. He noted that senior staff are not part of the meeting, they are a resource for council and members of the audience should not ask them questions. The media and the public may ask questions about items on the agenda during question period at the end of the meeting, not during the meeting, Formosa also said.
Another change was in the mayor’s announcements. Formosa said while he may announce items of interest to the community at the beginning of the meeting, councillors would be given an opportunity to make announcements as well.
On behalf of the city, Formosa wished a happy 100th birthday to Winnie Sarah Harrop, who celebrated at Olive Devaud Residence the day before, December 14. He said he and Westby took flowers and a card to the celebration. “It was just a joy,” he said. “While we were there, we visited some other residents at Olive Devaud. We’re going to have to try and make more of an effort to go and say hello to seniors there, because they enjoyed the visit.”
Councillor Jim Palm introduced three students from Brooks Secondary School who were involved in the Jingle Jog, a five-kilometre run, or walk, organized by students to raise funds for Powell River Action Centre Food Bank.
Bradon Budgell, Ceilidh Lazaroff and Wes Oram reported there were 180 participants and the event raised $1,576.
