- by Jon Farmer
It’s been two and a half months since the municipal election. As a first time councillor, the learning curve has been steep but the orientation days and my first meetings have been incredibly informative. During the campaign I spoke often about the importance of communication between Council and the community so I thought I would take an opportunity to share some of my initial observations and links to resources that I’ve found helpful.
To begin with, the Corporation of the City of Owen Sound has a lot of projects on the go. The Council orientation days included high level overviews about all City departments. The orientation meetings themselves were closed to the public to allow us to ask questions more freely but the slideshows with the information were published afterwards. You can access them through the agendas or at the links here:
- Council Orientation – December 2
- Council Orientation – December 9
- Orientation for City Council – Owen Sound and North Grey Union Public Library
The City’s work is guided by a Strategic Plan and there is a Dashboard to track progress toward Owen Sound’s key priorities. You can view the Dashboard here to see how the City is moving towards its goals.
As a resident I sometimes wondered why I hadn’t heard about one project or another in awhile. As a councillor, I’m seeing that it simply takes time for staff to do the necessary background work. The community garden policy is an example of that. Although Council requested changes in mid-2021, the full update took until December of 2022.
Public consultation is now open on that policy at ourcity.owensound.ca which is the public engagement webpage for Owen Sound. If you’re interested in community gardens, this is a great time to share your perspective.
Make sure to check the Our City page regularly to see information about various projects underway and opportunities to provide feedback. The other way to provide feedback to the City on day to day concerns is through the Report a Concern page of the website. Concerns, questions, and suggestions can also be submitted in person, by phone, or by letter.
Jumping into Council and committee meetings, I’ve been a little intimidated by the length of agendas and reports. Our first full Council meeting package had more than 800 pages between the open and closed sessions. Committee agendas have also been in the hundreds of pages. All of those agendas are full of information and as a new councillor it’s taking me extra time to make sure I have enough background information to make appropriately informed decisions.
It all reminds me of school again but it’s been exciting to dive into this learning. With budget meetings coming up in February I know that there is much more to come in my crash course on City processes and projects.
As this Council term continues, I’m always eager to connect with and hear from the community at large. I can’t promise to have all the answers but I’ll do my best to at least point folks in the right direction. You can reach me by email at jfarmer@owensound.ca and I’ll respond at my earliest opportunity.
Jon Farmer is a first term councillor for the City of Owen Sound
