qathet Regional District (qRD) board will direct staff for a report regarding inclusion of electoral areas in the allocation of community works funds and options for such allocations.
At the April 26 regional board meeting, directors unanimously supported the initiative that had been brought forward by Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick, after learning that staff had already drafted a report.
During discussion on the motion, Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said initially he was opposing the motion. He said he absolutely supports including electoral areas in community works funds as the core value of the fund.
“The reason why I oppose this motion is because we already have a report from last June,” said Gisborne. “It covers most of the topics about community works funds and I don’t support asking staff to write another report when we can get that previous report and then we can provide clear direction to our staff for amending the policy.
“It’s probably not a lot of work for staff to bring up the old report and then maybe offer a few changes. I’d be happy to postpone this item until we get the June 2022 report and have a more in-depth conversation about it. We can give clear direction to staff and save everyone time.”
City director George Doubt said the motion was asking for a report and he was happy to see one.
“Overall, we need to think about at the board, what is in the interest of the greater good of all the residents of the regional district,” said Doubt.
City director Cindy Elliott said she would like to see a report. She said she was not part of the regional board in June 2022 and doesn’t know what that report says, or how it would be different from a new report.
“It does make sense to me that we revisit the report we already have and maybe decide if we want staff to bring back more recommendations or different options,” said Elliott.
Manager of financial services Linda Greenan said she knew this resolution was coming forward and had drafted a report on the matter.
“It does have more information,” said Greenan. “I got more responses from other regional districts between June 2022 and when this report was drafted. I wanted to make you aware that the report is already drafted, in case this resolution is passed.”
Electoral Area E director Andrew Fall said there is more information to build on the June 2022 report and a new report has been completed.
“The direction has been given to bring forward options,” said Fall. “Once we have the previous report and new information that has already been assembled, the board can roll up its sleeves and look through the options. We need to wrap our minds around it so we can use those funds efficiently and cohesively for bringing us together to do what’s best for the regional district as a whole.”
Gisborne said upon hearing from staff that they had already written a report, he was withdrawing his opposition. The motion carried unanimously.
