Committee of the Whole - City of PentictonMeetings/2017/2017-05-23 Committ… · Committee of the...

Committee of the Whole

Committee of the Whole to be held at

City of Penticton, Council Chambers 171 Main Street, Penticton, B.C.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Recessed from the Regular Council Meeting at 1:00 p.m.

1. Call Committee of the Whole to Order 2. Adoption of Agenda 3. Delegations and Community Recognition

3.1 Susie McAdams Re: Winner of the BC Transit Explore BC Contest

3.2 Doug and Joyce Cox Re: Research Collection gifted to UBC Okanagan 3.3 PACA – Pump track project 1-2 Dan Colbeck, Cycling Advocate and Dave Foot, PACA Vice President 3.4 Bike to Work Week – City/RDOS Challenge 3 3.5 Council Advisory Structure – Committees and Task Forces 4-90 Dana Schmidt, Corporate Officer and Stephanie Chambers, Corporate Services Manager

4. Adjourn to Regular Meeting of Council

Poplar Grove Parking Lot Pump Track

Background info regarding project:

The Penticton and Area Cycling Association (PACA) has been working to gather the materials and labour needed to build a pump track park adjacent to the Poplar Grove Parking Lot. We have been successful in gathering many of the key resources needed and are hoping to have everything in place within the coming months to begin building. A budget for this project will be presented at the meeting. We would like to gather council input at this time and answer any questions that council might have regarding this project.

A pump track is one part of a cycling skills park. There are many pump tracks in municipal bike parks and communities with biking opportunities throughout the province (the two youtube clips below are from pump tracks located in Tofino and on the Sunshine Coast). Following the creation of a pump track, PACA is dedicated to helping create other components typical of bike skills parks (i.e. dirt jumps, practice drops etc.) in our community.

Who is presenting?

! Dave Foot - PACA VP

! Dan Colbeck - Cycling Advocate

What is a pump track?

! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_track

How is a pump track used?

! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA7uz1DyOlg

! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZfpi4_ip18

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_track

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA7uz1DyOlg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA7uz1DyOlg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZfpi4_ip18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZfpi4_ip18

Proposed design:

Rendering at proposed location (design of track has been changed picture above):

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Committee of the Whole

Date: May 23, 2017 File No: 540-20 To: Peter Weeber, Chief Administrative Officer From: Dana Schmidt, Corporate Officer & Stephanie Chambers, Corporate Services Manager Subject: Committee System Review

Staff Recommendation

THAT the Committee of the Whole endorse advertisement for membership for the following committees:

1. Agricultural Advisory

2. Arts, Creative and Cultural Innovations

3. Community Revitalization (Downtown)

4. Development Services Advisory

5. Penticton Creek Restoration

6. Transportation Advisory;

AND THAT the Committee of the Whole endorse advertisement for membership in the following Task Forces:

1. Affordable Community

2. Economic Development

AND THAT the Community Sustainability Advisory Committee be parked and reviewed in 2018;

AND THAT the South Okanagan Event Centre Select Committee become a Spectra Event Committee;

AND THAT the Heritage and Museum Advisory Committee become an ad hoc committee for the Museum Manager and Recreation and Culture Manager;

AND THAT the Committee of the Whole endorse the Committee Terms of Reference to be approved following the first meeting of the new committees;

AND THAT the Committee of the Whole endorse an information session prior to the first meetings of the new committees to clarify the role of the Chair and answers questions;

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Council Report Page 2 of 3

AND THAT the Committee of the Whole support staff review of the remaining recommendations from the consultant’s report (refer to Appendix D)to be prioritized and implemented in a timely manner.

Executive Summary

A review of the City of Penticton’s (COP) current Committee system and terms of reference was conducted to:

• identify any gaps in in current operations • compare the City of Penticton’s committee structure to the structures used by select other BC local

governments (Kamloops, Kelowna, and Vernon) • Share observations about committees and commissions which can form a “blueprint” for the general

operations of these groups within the City’s governance framework.

In addition, we have completed this review from an efficiency perspective, to ensure productive use of staff, elected official and volunteer resources.

This review is not intended to be a comprehensive analysis of the committees, but rather the opportunity for Council to hear the feedback from the Committee members, the Chairs, Staff and an outside perspective.

Strategy Priority Objective:

Connected, Community and Strong is the pillar that this initiative would support. The intent of bringing this forward to Council is to share an evaluation of the current COP Committee System and understand best practices from other communities, while also for the first time, asking the Committee members and Chairs for their feedback.

Analysis

To identify and examine the issues, a survey of committee members was conducted, staff met with the Chairs of the current committees, minutes and terms of reference were reviewed and comparison research was completed.

Findings of note:

1 – The City needs to train and support the Committee Chairs and staff liaisons as to their roles and city expectations.

2 – The City needs to apply consistency to the minute taking

3 – The City needs to apply consistency to the practice of receiving delegations at Committees in line with delegation practices for Council

4 – Terms of Reference require review in terms of mandate and committee make up.

The current Official Community Plan Task Force is a large strategic project that will consume a significant amount of city resources over the next 16 – 18 months. Both Climate Action and Heritage are featured significantly in the OCP, and staff are suggesting that both the Heritage and Museum and Community Sustainability Committees are parked during the OCP process and re-evaluated at the conclusion of that

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Council Report Page 3 of 3

process. The Task Force may look to call on these individuals as the OCP process unfolds, but running parallel processes will consume more staff resources than the city has available.

Alternate Recommendations

1 – That the Committee of the Whole endorse advertisement for membership for the Community Sustainability Advisory Committee.

2 – That the Committee of the Whole endorse advertisement for membership for the South Okanagan Events Centre Select Committee.

3 – That the Committee of the Whole endorse advertisement for membership for the Heritage and Museum Advisory Committee.

Attachments

Attachment A – Committee Members Survey

Attachment B – Chair Meeting Notes

Attachment C – Independent Review of Current Committee System and Best Practices

Attachment D- Recommendations List

Attachment E – Committee Comparison Chart

Respectfully submitted,

Dana Schmidt Stephanie Chambers Corporate Officer Community Services Manager

Approvals

CAO

PW

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Agriculture Advisory CommitteeArts, Creative & Cultural Innovations CommitteeBoard of VarianceCommunity Sustainability CommitteeDevelopment Services Advisory CommitteeDowntown Revitalization CommitteeEconomic Development Task ForceHeritage & Museum CommitteeParks & Recreation Master Plan Steering CommitteePenticton Arena Task ForcePenticton Creek Restoration CommitteeSOEC Select CommitteeTourism Development Task ForceTransportation Advisory CommitteeWaterfront Revitalization CommitteeOther

Penticton Committee Effectiveness SurveyThe City is looking for ways to improve the effectiveness of its committees. We are invitingall committee members to complete a brief survey. In appreciation for your participation,the City would like to offer you two free passes to the Community Centre pool. Pleasecomplete your survey prior to March 31, 2017.

If you serve on multiple committees, please feel free to repeat the survey foreach committee.

1. Please indicate one committee you served on in 2016 that you wouldlike to provide feedback on: (Choose any one option)

Penticton CommitteesShape Your City Penticton

Page 1 of 5

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2. Consider the committee you identified in Question 1 and rate yourlevel of agreement with the following statements:

Questions StronglyDisagree Disagree Agree Strongly

AgreeNo

Opinion

I am able toparticipate

effectively in thecommittee.

The committeeis delivering on

its mandate.

My participationis valued.

I feel thecommittee is

making adifference.

I wouldvolunteer for

anothercommittee.

I wouldrecommend

volunteering fora committee to

my friends,family and

peers.

I wouldrecommend toCouncil that this

committeecontinue.

The mandate ofthe committee


Page 2 of 5

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1 to 23 to 45 or more

Less than 1 year1 to 2 years3 to 4 years5 or moreOther

is clear.

The committeeis well

supported bystaff.

The committeeselection

process waseffective.

The meetingformat (i.e.

location, timeand frequency)

works well.

3. Do you have any other feedback you would like to share? (Please usethis section to expand on any of your answers.)

4. How many committees have you served on in Penticton (in total)?(Choose any one option)

5. What is the longest period of time you have served on any singlecommittee? (Choose any one option)


Page 3 of 5

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Chair / Vice ChairMemberStaff representativeCouncil representative

Less than 2021 to 3031 to 4041 to 5051 to 6061 to 7071 to 8080 and above

6. Why did you decide to participate in a City committee?

7. What can we do to improve City committees and your experience as amember?

Demographic Questions

8. Please select your committee role: (Choose any one option)

9. What age range do you fall within? (Choose any one option)


Page 4 of 5

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FemaleMale

Less than 3 years3 to 7 years8 to 12 years13 or more years

10. What is your gender? (Choose any one option)

11. How long have you lived in Penticton? (Choose any one option)


Page 5 of 5

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Committee Chair Meeting - April 6, 2017

In attendance:

Peter Weeber, JoAnne Kleb, Stephanie Chambers, Dana Schmidt, Lorraine Williston, Committee Chairs

Chairs from Agriculture, Dev Services, Penticton Creek, Downtown Revite, SOEC, Arena, Community Sustainability.

Concerns Raised:

Committee resolutions – if Council doesn’t approve, the item seems to disappear, doesn’t come back to committee, staff need to follow up with committee

Terms of Reference

- don’t understand the role of the Chair - need training session for Chairs - all committee members and staff liaisons need to be trained and aware of the role of the Chair - mandate is unclear

Attendance – why are members not attending, unsure of what to do when a member doesn’t attend

Selection of Chair – would like bios for committee members to read so they make a well informed decision for the Chair position

Agenda

- need more items referred from Council, not being used to the fullest - need to receive documents prior to the meeting for proper understanding and review (often

receive nothing but the agenda page) - Chair needs to keep time on agenda, so they don’t spend the entire meeting on one item

Resolutions – feeling that Council doesn’t accept their advice / defeats the resolutions they put forward ( approx. 72% approval, 14% defeated, 14% resolved with amendment in 2016)

Downtown Revite Project – Revitalization committee worked on the plan, when things changed they were not consulted or told

Public Awareness – need to create awareness of committees

Membership – I Chair stated there needs to be a minimum of 7 on a committee, others disagreed.

CO – We amended the standard ToR a couple of years ago to state quorum is 50%+ of ‘appointed’ members to address concerns of meeting quorum when there have been resignations and there has not yet been a new appointment to replace them.

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Further Chair Meetings and Comments

Changes in staff resources hurts committee momentum

Would like a committee action tracker

Do Committee meetings require admin support if there aren’t motions (resolutions) required?

Committee membership wants greater input into agenda preparation

Could cut some committees schedules from monthly to bi-monthly (maybe quarterly)

Wonder if committees are receiving all pertinent information? (provide reports in advance of meetings)

Greater attendance if less meetings

Mandate needs more definition

Concerned that Council doesn’t give full consideration to committee resolutions

Sticking to meeting timelines is important, never go over allotted time (frustrating to members)

Training for Chairs is needed / Orientation

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City of Penticton

Review of the Committee System

Lisa M. Zwarn

May 17, 2017

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CITY OF PENTICTON REVIEW OF COMMITTEE SYSTEM

Prepared by Lisa M. Zwarn ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 4

1.1 General Comments .............................................................................. 4

1.2 Methodology ........................................................................................ 4

2.0 Background Information ................................................................................ 6

2.1 Current Committees and Task Forces in the City................................ 6

2.2 Criteria for Evaluating Committees ...................................................... 7

2.3 Observations about the Committee Member Survey and Meetings with the Chairs ................................................................................................ 11

2.4 Comments on Minutes Review .......................................................... 19

3.0 Comparison to Other BC Local Governments ........................................... 32

3.1 Committees that are Common to the City and the Other Local Governments .................................................................................................. 32

3.2 Committees Unique to the Other Local Governments ....................... 34

3.3 Description of the Committee Structure for the Other Local Governments .................................................................................................. 36

3.4 Best Practices from the other Local Governments ............................ 46

4.0 General Observations .................................................................................. 53

4.1 Corporate Policy for Committees and Terms of Reference ............... 54

4.2 Examination of Mandates .................................................................. 56

4.3 Number of Committee Members........................................................ 57

4.4 Voting Rights of Members ................................................................. 58

4.5 Term of Office .................................................................................... 59

4.6 Role of the Elected Official ................................................................ 60

4.7 Accountability ..................................................................................... 62

4.8 Administrative Support ....................................................................... 62

5.0 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 65

Appendix 1 – Responsibilities for Administrative Support Staff Person............. 67

Appendix 2 – Committee Meeting Feedback Form ................................................ 69

Appendix 3 – Committee Annual Evaluation Form ................................................ 70

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Prepared by Lisa M. Zwarn iii

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Prepared by Lisa M. Zwarn 4

1.0 Introduction 1.1 General Comments The City of Penticton (the “City”) would like a review of its current Committee system and terms of reference to:

a) identify any gaps in in current operations; b) compare its committee structure to the structures used by select

other BC local governments; and c) offer some observations about committees and task forces

which can form a “blueprint” for the general operations of these groups within the City’s governance framework.

This review is not intended to be a comprehensive analysis of the committee systems used by the City, given the time constraints. This review does not examine how the City currently employs Committee of the Whole or committees composed entirely of Council Members as part of its governance structure. The function and operation of Committee of the Whole should be considered as part of any update to the City’s Council Procedure Bylaw. As for committees composed entirely of Council Members, those committees are also subject to the City’s Council Procedure Bylaw in terms of operations. Ideally, those committees should have some general descriptions of their mandates identified in a separate policy. 1.2 Methodology Different sources of information were considered and examined to develop the contents of this report. The information was obtained either by staff or by the consultant, through a various means which are outlined as follows.

• The staff conducted a survey of the committee members to determine key areas of concern.

• The consultant conducted an initial interview with the Project Manager and the Corporate Officer to obtain an understanding of

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what was to be considered in this report and to discuss some initials points raised by the consultant as to scope and depth of the review.

• The consultant developed a list of questions which were used by staff to conduct a meeting of the Committee Chairs.

• The staff conducted a meeting of the Committee Chairs to seek their comments and concerns.

• The consultant reviewed a variety of documents pertaining to the current committee structure which included the terms of reference for the committees, the results of the committee survey, comments from the Committee Chairs’ meeting, the minutes for the various committees since 2015, and any applicable bylaws and policies.

• The consultant prepared a list of questions which were used to conduct interviews that were held with three different local governments about their committee structures and best practices.

• The consultant drafted the report which was reviewed by the Project Manager and the Corporate Officer before the report was finalized.

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2.0 Background Information 2.1 Current Committees and Task Forces in the City The advisory bodies to the City’s Council can be grouped into two different categories – committees and task forces. The committees function as “pure” advisory bodies to Council in that they will consider specific topics as instructed by Council and will make recommendations on those specific topics for Council’s consideration. (These groups can be considered as standing committees.) The task forces function more as working groups that deal with one particular topic, prepare their findings, and then disband upon completion of the project or submission of the final report to Council. (Basically, these groups are a form of select committees.) These specific committees and taskforces are under the authority of Council which has the ability to alter their composition, mandate, and operations. Currently the City has 10 advisory committees which are as follows:

1. Agricultural Advisory 2. Arts, Creative and Cultural Innovations 3. Community Revitalization 4. Community Sustainability 5. Development Services Advisory 6. Heritage and Museum 7. Parks and Recreation Master Plan Steering Committee 8. Penticton Restoration 9. South Okanagan Event Centre Select 10. Transportation Advisory.

The City has 5 Task Forces which are as follows:

1. Affordable Community 2. Economic Development 3. Official Community Plan 4. Penticton Arena 5. Tourism Development.

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There are other groups for which the City is mandated by the legislation to have such as the Board of Variance or the Parcel Tax Review Panel. Because of the nature of these types of groups, the City does not have authority to alter the composition or direct the operations of these groups. Accordingly, these groups do not form part of this review. 2.2 Criteria for Evaluating Committees 2.2.1 GENERAL COMMENTS In order to provide meaningful comments and recommendations in the review, some evaluation criteria should be applied. The criteria can be placed into several broad categories such as composition, authority and function, accountability and reporting, code of conduct, training, Chair, and Members. Details as to the criteria listed under the broad categories are listed below. Composition

• In terms of composition, a committee: o is reflective of the composition of the community itself,

through diversity among its members; o has a balance of perspectives in terms of technical

expertise and the community point of view; and o contains a blend of experienced members and newly

appointed members to ensure the vitality of the committee now and in the future.

• More members of the committee should be appointed directly by Council than members who have membership on the committee because of the external agency that they represent.

• The number of committee members should not be so high as to diminish the ability of members to contribute in a meaningful manner or to create a situation in which it is hard to fill all of the positions on the committee.

• There should be a rotation of committee members to ensure that no one committee member serves on the same committee for an

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excessive period of time, including committee members who are appointed by external agencies.

• Committee members should have limits as to the number of committees on which a single member can serve at any one time.

• If specific knowledge, skills and abilities are required or desired for the members, then those knowledge, skills and abilities are set out in the terms of reference

Authority and Function

• Committees cannot bind the City to a specific course of action without Council’s approval.

• The groups have a clear understanding that they serve as advisory bodies to Council, not as substitutes for Council, in terms of decisions made which impact the organization and the community.

• A clear distinction exists between the role of a committee and the role of a task force.

• Each group has a clear mandate as set out in its terms of reference.

• Little, if any, overlap occurs with the mandates of other committees.

• If there is a conflict in terms of mandate between committees, Council determines which committee has jurisdiction over the topic in conflict.

• The groups work within an approved mandate and approved budget.

• The groups have a workplan for the year which contains measurable outcomes.

• Clearly articulated roles and responsibilities are assigned to the various positions within the committee such as chair, vice chair, member, staff liaison, and recording secretary.

• Clear expectations are established as to whether Council expects committee to respond only to matters referred to it by

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Council or to generate ideas and bring them forward without Council’s direction.

Accountability and Reporting

• Discussion at the committee level is future oriented for the majority of the time.

• The committee provides an annual report on its activities to Council, ideally before the approval of the next budget for the committee.

• Recommendations made by the committee support the City’s strategic and master plans.

• The committee can spend only allocated funds if: o there is a Council resolution to approve the expenditure; o the expenditure was anticipated in the approved budget

allotment for the committee; or o if staff has authority to approve the spending of those

funds for that purpose. • Specific departments are assigned to committees for oversight of

activities and technical expertise support.

Code of Conduct • The chair serves as official spokesperson for the committee. • The chair does not state an official City position on any topic

referred to the committee. • Members avoid conflicts of interest. • Members keep confidential all information provided to the

members because of their positions on the committee. • Regardless of method of appointment to the group, a member

acts in the best interests of the committee, not the external agency that the member represents.

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Training • Orientation provided to all members at start of their terms of

office. • Members have access to written materials that they can use for

reference in the carrying out of their duties. • Ongoing training is provided as needed to the groups.

Chair

• The chair reviews the agenda prior to its distribution to the rest of the committee

• The chair allows for adequate time to conduct this review. • The selection process for chair is clearly established in the terms

of reference. • Clear criteria are articulated in the terms of reference to

determine who will serve as chair, and to place any restrictions on the selection of this position.

• The chair provides effective communications to the members between meetings.

• A chair’s effectiveness is measured in terms of his or her o Content knowledge; o Experience relevant to the work of the committee; o Leadership skills; o People skills; o Confidence; and o Communication.

Members

• A member attends at least 75% of the scheduled meetings. • A member is ready to participate at every meeting (did his or her

homework in advance) • Few, if any, resignations occur prior to end of term of office. • There is an established number of meetings that can be missed

before the position declared vacant.

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• The members are recognized by Council for their contributions to the community by serving on the group.

Recommendation

1. That the criteria for evaluating committees be included as part of any future

evaluation of the committee system. 2.3 Observations about the Committee Member Survey and

Meetings with the Chairs As indicated earlier, staff has conducted a survey of persons involved in committees in the City and a meeting with the chairs of the various committees to obtain their feedback about the current committee structure. Based on review of the information obtained from these consultation processes, several themes have emerged and will be discussed in this section1. Individual members have expressed concerns about the following areas in the comment sections of the survey: (a) mandate; (b) roles and responsibilities; (c) members’ involvement; (d) meeting management; (e) composition of the committee; and (f) relations with Council. It is important to remember that these observations were made by individuals from different committees. It does not suggest that there is consensus on the part of the committees that these concerns are issues for all committees. However, failure to consider what has been stated by those in the best position to comment on how well the committee system is working would not be helpful. These observations have been summarized so the individual remarks cannot be attributed back to the makers of those remarks.

1 Four areas were identified as receiving the highest numbers of disagreement among the survey members. These areas are (a) delivering on mandate; (b) committee making a difference; (c) would volunteer on another committee; and (d) mandate of committee is clear.

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In terms of mandates for the committees, the biggest concern is that the committee mandates are unclear and would benefit from stronger terms of reference. The mandates should establish the types of issues to be brought before the committee. A lack of clarity in the mandates may mean that items which should be brought before the committees are not brought to the committee’s attention or that committees are exceeding their terms of reference. Strong terms of reference enable committees to interact with each other without causing conflict as to which committee is responsible for providing the advice to Council on a particular subject matter. Moreover, strong mandates assist the committees in determining the need for meetings. Where there is a lack of clarity in the mandate, the committee may not meet for many months because the need to meet is not readily apparent. Primary objectives set out in the mandate can be kept at the forefront to assist in making key decisions over time. Recommendation

2. That the mandate for each committee be reviewed on a regular basis to

determine what, if any, anything needs to be changed. The main issue in the area of roles and responsibilities centers around the role of the chair. Some do not understand what is the role of the chair and how the chair is to interact with the other committee members and the staff liaisons. Selection of the chairs would benefit from a degree of transparency. If the committee members are responsible for selecting the chair, then perhaps, the committee members may benefit from having copies of the bios for committee members in advance so that the committee members can make a well-informed decision about who should serve as chair. Clarity should also be provided as the length of the term of the chair and vice chair. Does the chair and vice chair serve for terms of one year or do they serve in those capacities for the entire term of Council?

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Recommendation

3. That the role of the chair and the vice chair be reviewed with each committee.

4. That a bio for each committee member be circulated to the rest of the committee at the start of each term so that the committee members can get

to know each other. (This does not need to be compulsory for those

committee members who do not wish to be included.)

5. That the terms of reference for the committees indicate the term of office for

the chair and the vice chair. As for members’ involvement, three key points emerged for consideration. The first key point is whether the members are being recognized for the value that they bring to the committee and to Council. Historically, some members have not felt like they were engaged in the process. They were of opinion that Council could refer more items to committee in order to use the committees to their fullest potential. The second key point is the speed or the pace at which the committee is making progress on the issues coming before the committee. For example, a certain issue involving washrooms in the downtown took a number of meetings (six) to reach consensus on the issue. The third point is the type of additional information that would assist the committee members in forming their opinions about the subject matter. For example, additional financial background and analysis of the monetary impacts on the decision or a clear indication of the amount of budget involved would assist the committee in formulating workable recommendations. Another example would be if staff could provide details on how other local governments have approached certain issues in terms of structure, budgets and goals. Details from local governments that are role models on certain subject matter would give an idea to the committee on what is possible to address the issues. On occasions, a committee has worked on a particular plan under certain restrictions. Then, when things were

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changed that impact that plan, the committee was not informed about those changes, never mind consulted about those changes. Recommendation

6. That, where appropriate, financial or budget information be included in the

supporting materials provided to the committees. Issues of attendance and cancellations of meetings, follow up on committee resolutions and agendas were raised pertaining to the topic of meeting management. Members express concern about other members failing to attend meetings, ignorant of the reasons why those other members were not there. The question is “what can be done when a member does not attend committee meetings on a frequent basis”. Failure to attend is a problem as some committees have had to cancel their meetings due to lack of quorum. The inability to make quorum2 can be amplified, if committee members have resigned and no new appointments have been made to replace them. As for follow up on committee resolutions, it appears that if Council does not adopt the committee’s recommendation, the issue which is the subject of the recommendation seems to disappear and does not come back to the committee for further work. Committee members would appreciate staff liaisons following up with the committees on the subject matter, irrespective of whether Council adopted the committee’s recommendation or not. A few committee members would like to ensure that the minutes of committee meeting have been approved by the committee before being forwarded to Council. The topic of agenda elicited a number of comments in the survey. A few members would like to see the members having more control over the agenda, being able to add matters to the agendas. Additional time to review the agenda items would be helpful as well. There have been

2 Majority of “appointed” committee members constitutes a quorum.

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occasions when supporting documents were not forwarded to committee members at the same as the agenda page. Having the supporting reports in advance of the meeting will assist the committee members in their understanding of the topic. The agenda is a useful tool to enable the chair to gauge the amount of work that is scheduled to be considered for the meeting and a guide to help keep the committee on track so that the entire meeting is not entirely consumed by one item on the agenda. The members who made the comments were of the general opinion that better meeting management would result in more meaningful participation. Recommendation

7. That committee members be reminded of the importance of attending committee meetings on a frequent basis.

8. That the chair follow up with a committee member who has missed two or

more consecutive meetings to determine what is impacting the committee

member’s ability to attend.

9. That

(a) committee members who have passed the threshold set for the number of meetings that can be missed be removed from the committee; and

(b) a person to replace the missing committee member be appointed in his or

her place.

10. That the staff liaison ensure that supporting material is included with the distribution of the agenda. Composition of the committees was an area which received several comments in the survey. Depending upon the committee, views as to the involvement of specific interest groups differ. Some committee members appreciated the fact that participants affected by a committee’s recommendations served on the committee alongside of

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residents who had a keen interest in the subject matter but are not affected by the result of the recommendations. Those members saw this type of composition as a good blend or balance between pragmatic experience and community perspective. Some committee members recognize that certain special interest or user groups provide a benefit to the community as a whole, so steps should be taken to keep these groups engaged throughout the process. Other members expressed concerns that interest groups who are represented on committees have their own agendas which may not align with the City’s agenda. Those expressing concern thought that having representation on the committee and delegations from the same groups appearing before the same committee gives rise to repetition of the same point of view. Given the potential for conflicts of interest and strong influence over the recommendations, some committee members would like to see a greater balance of perspectives in making committee appointments. Some of the members think that better promotion of the committees to the community at large will encourage a broader base of citizen involvement. Increased involvement of various groups of people such as minority groups, single parents, youth, those with low incomes, and those who are physically challenged could help create that broader base of citizen involvement. Recommendation

11. That a committee’s composition has more “members at large” than “members

who represent specific interests or certain organizations.”

12. That Council consider the appointment of individuals who traditionally have

not been well represented on committees when possible, if the pool of applicants includes such individuals. The relationship between Council and committees seems to be coloured with a sense of frustration on the part of the committee members. Several committee members expressed concerns that

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Council does not accept the advice offered by their committees and more often than not that Council does not adopt the committee recommendations put forward3. Since, in those committee members’ opinion, Council is not following the committee’s advice, then they question what is the purpose of having a committee. Those members believe that the committee was struck to receive actions items from Council or to provide input to Council on matters referred by Council to the committee. If Council is not sending matters to the committees for discussion, then why does the committee exist. [As an observation to consider, if there are very few motions coming out of a committee meeting, then it is easy to see why the committee members may feel unproductive and are frustrated with the process. The minutes reflect a lot of recorded discussion but record few situations in which the discussion had resulted in a substantive motion. The content and the actions arising out a committee meeting rests solely with the committee members.] Some committee members felt that there was no clear procedure for the committees to put forward advice to Council or raised certain issues to the Council level. Some committee members think that staff is drawing conclusions from the discussions held by the committee and reporting on those conclusions. These committee members are unclear as to how those conclusions were reached as the committee did not propose or vote on any motions articulating those conclusions. The concern is incorrect advice is being given to Council. It is worthwhile to mention that comments from the survey and the chairs meeting were very positive in terms of the involvement of staff at the committee level and the support that the staff provides to the individual committees. Those that chose to comment mentioned that staff was well prepared for the meetings, providing good information,

3 Statistically, in 2016, Council, collectively, adopted the committees’ recommendations 72% of the time, amended the committees’ recommendations 14% of the time and did not adopt the committees’ recommendations 14% of the time. These percentages reflect all of the recommendations brought forward by all of the committees. The percentages may vary, if isolated to the individual committees themselves.

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and was thoughtful and receptive to any ideas or suggestions brought forward at the meetings. They see that strong support from the staff has a direct and positive impact on the committee’s success.

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2.4 Comments on Minutes Review The consultant reviewed the minutes for all of the committees from 2015 to the present. Overall, these minutes document well the work of the various committees and gives insight as to how well the committees are operating. Nevertheless, there are a few trends seen in the minutes which should be noted for consideration. The biggest concern to arise from the review of the minutes is about the number of motions, or rather lack thereof, occurring in committee meetings. A motion which is adopted by the committee expresses the committee’s point of view for Council to consider. If there is no motion or if there is no recommendation contained in a motion, then the committee is not giving any advice to Council; the committee is silent. A recommendation must be made in the form of a motion that is adopted by the committee. Often the minutes record the points raised during the discussion among the committee members. These minutes state that the committee reached on consensus on the matter but there is no corresponding motion to reflect what the committee agreed upon. The lack of motions being adopted by the committees is a significant issue considering the complaints about the slow progress that the committees are making on issues and the concern that staff is drawing conclusions that are not reflective of the committee’s discussion. Recommendation

13. That a refresher session on the purpose and use of motions be provided to all

committees.

14. That the practice of recording that consensus on a matter was reached

without a corresponding resolution to summarize that consensus be abandoned.

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On occasion, there have been “brainstorming” sessions occurring within a committee which is perfectly acceptable use of the committee’s time. However, to benefit from such a session, the committee should, at the end of the session, adopt a motion which outlines the key points arising from that session so there is agreement on what has been accomplished. Some committees do very well procedurally. They understand that when a motion is defeated that it does not mean that the opposite is to occur. They know that they must adopt another motion formally to ensure that the opposite does indeed occur automatically. These committees, also, comprehend that they can pass motions which recommends approval of something with a list of conditions to be satisfied as part of that approval. It is important for the committees to recognize that if the committee’s recommendation involves money or changes to the budget, there is no guarantee that Council will follow the committee’s advice and adopt that recommendation. Recommendations which involve allocating funds to new projects or increasing the spending for existing projects must viewed and balanced with the rest of the budget adopted by Council. Council is the ultimate authority for all things budget related. Council members are the ones who answer to the public for all tax dollars spent and they must have the freedom to make the financial decisions as they see fit, whether they follow the advice of the committee or not. Some committees have a good practice of adopting motions which include upper limits on the dollar amounts, where possible, when making recommendations to Council. Some other committees even go so far as to from identify where the sources of money (such as reserves, surplus funds, or operating budgets) are coming in order to carry out the recommendation. These are practices that should be

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adopted by the other committees when making recommendations involving money. Recommendation

15. That committee recommendations involving financial matters include any

upper limit for any money to be spent and the identification of funding sources, if possible. Care should be taken regarding subcommittees. If the terms of reference for a committee do not allow subcommittees, then a subcommittee should not be established. If a subcommittee is permitted under the terms of reference, then the subcommittee should have proper minutes prepared to document its work. It is not enough for the subcommittees to be mentioned as reporting back to the committees in the committees’ minutes. Subcommittees must adhere to the procedural rules just like the parent committee. The mandates of the subcommittees should state exactly what a subcommittee can and cannot do regarding the delegated topic or task. It is important to have a formal mechanism in place which requires the subcommittees to report back to the parent committee on a frequent basis. [As an observation, while it may be useful to have a subcommittee do some research on a particular topic and report the results of the research to the committee, care should be taken to limit the number of times a subcommittee is used to conduct additional research. A heavy reliance on subcommittees make create a situation in which the subcommittee “owns” the topic to the exclusion of the rest of the committee. An extensive use of subcommittees within a committee can drain the limited resources assigned to the committee. As a way of ensuring a subcommittee does not exist for longer than is necessary, a provision could be put in the policy to state that Council must pass a

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motion to approve a subcommittee that will exist for more than 8 months.]

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Recommendation

16. That the terms of reference for committees be reviewed to determine whether

subcommittees should be permitted.

17. That minutes be prepared for any meetings of a subcommittee and provided to the parent committee. Another significant issue is the how committees handle situations in which one or a few committee members disagree with the other committee members. It is alarming to see the minutes attributing the comments made by an individual committee member when expressing a difference of opinion4. However, it is much more alarming to see one committee member dominate the agenda with his or her concerns during multiple meetings at the expense of the rest of the committee. This is a symptom of a significant problem occurring at the committee level. The chair should try to work through that committee member’s outside of the meetings so that those concerns can addressed productively during the meetings. At the very least, Council should be made aware of any disruptive or counter-productive disagreements on the part of a specific committee member. If necessary, Council should consider whether it is necessary to remove that committee member and appoint someone else in his or her place. Recommendation

18. That the practice of attributing of comments to a particular committee

member be abandoned.

19. That the first step in dealing with disagreement on the part of one or a few

committee members is for the chair to have a conversation with those

4 If it is that critical that comments are attributed to the persons are making those comments, then the City should record the meetings and hire transcription services to document the meeting.

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committee members outside of the meeting to investigate what are the core

issues or concerns. The use of alternate committee members is not good practice for Council committees. Committees are advisors to Council, not decision making bodies like a regional district which does need a quorum to function. It is very unlikely that the designate alternate will be attending every meeting to stay informed on the issues, just in case the alternate must attend in the future. It is unlikely that the designated alternate will be briefed adequately and regularly by the committee member for which the alternate is designated. Usually, the designated alternate will be going into a meeting with very little background knowledge on the issue, even if the designated alternate has been reading the minutes of the committee on an ongoing basis. What happens if there is a difference of opinion between the regular committee member and the designated alternate on a particular issue? How will that difference be resolved? Given the advisory nature of a committee, designated alternates are not needed for Council committee. Recommendation

20. That the practice of designating alternates for committee members be

abandoned. Delegations appearing before a committee is always a thorny issue. While it is good for a committee to receive as much information as possible on an issue, the delegation may not always understand that the committee’s point of view may differ significantly from Council’s point of view of the issue. The delegation may think that the committee’s support of the delegation’s matter guarantees approval by Council, which is an erroneous assumption on the part of the delegation. On occasions, a committee member met with delegations outside of the committee meeting and reported back to the committee the result of that meeting. Committee members should not be meeting

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with delegations outside of the meeting but should instead refer the matter to staff to meet with the delegation. Staff members have a greater knowledge as to City operations which is generally the type of information that delegation needs. Recommendation

21. That the practice of receiving delegations at committee meetings mirror any

restrictions placed on delegations appearing before Council.

22. That delegations deal with staff members outside of committee meetings. The minutes of a few committees record the Council resolution number that refers to a particular Council resolution but do not provide any details about that particular resolution. The assumption is that the Council resolution deals with an issue involving the committee but a person must go to the cross-referenced Council minutes to confirm what the Council resolution actually is. Minutes should be able to be read on their own without references outside of themselves. Moreover, this practice raises the question “why is the committee receiving Council resolutions”? This creates the appearance that Council reports to the committee and not the other way around. If the purpose of this practice is to let the committee know what is happening to its recommendations at the Council level, then a list of committee resolutions which is updated before every committee meeting would be a better communication tool. Then this list of committee resolutions can be incorporated into an annual report of the committee at the end of the year. In order to facilitate the creation of the list, committee resolutions should be numbered for tracking purposes. (The numbering of resolutions should be done in any event.)

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Recommendation

23. That a reporting mechanism which is the same for all committees be

developed to provide committees with updates as to their issues before

Council.

24. That a numbering system for committee motions be adopted. The task forces have focus and direction. It is evident that progress is being made at each meeting towards the completion of the project. A number of the task forces are engaging in good practices that can form guidelines for future tasks forces. For example, at the start of the project, members were given a list of reading material which was placed in priority order to help them to gain a quick understanding of the project. One of the task forces kept an ongoing action item list to provide quick updates on various parts of the project. This task force also received updates on the work plan and the needs analysis as part of the meeting, as well. There was consistency from meeting to meeting in terms of discussion topics and updates which helps to ensure that nothing gets missed. One of the task forces established a useful structure for its report which covers a number of areas for which Council should have information. This task force included recommendations and directives listed in priority sequence. To address the complexity of the issue, the task force included in its report a list of factors impacting the issue, identification of gaps in knowledge, and examples from elsewhere to show what could be done. Terminology was given at the start of the report to provide context and included in a glossary of terms at the end of the report. The report from this task force was signed by both the chair of the committee and the lead staff person. Recommendation

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25. That all committee members be provided with a prioritized reading list of

applicable materials at the start of their terms of office.

26. That the agendas of task force meetings dedicate a portion of the meeting at

which updates on the work plans are provided.

27. That a template for final reports of task force be prepared to ensure that

common key points are included in the report. If a committee deals directly with one department of the organization about the operations of that department, care should be taken to ensure that the committee is not managing the department. Topic matters should be limited to policy matters which are more global in nature. Approval of forms used by the department, setting of customer service levels and human resource decisions about additional staff members, for example, are operational decisions which should not be part of a committee’s mandate. When such decisions are discussed at a committee, it appears as if the department is reporting to the committee, rather than to Council. Recommendation

28. That a committee composed of Council members be struck to deal with

operational matters and human resource decisions for all departments, if the organization would like to have a resource with which staff can consult before

making such decisions. It is concerning to see situations when several items in one meeting are “tabled” to the next meeting. What is the reason for the postponement of discussion to the next meeting? Is it because committee members who are most interested in the topic are not at the meeting? Is it because the supporting material is not ready? Is it because the committee is lacking critical information needed for a full discussion of the issue? Is it because the issue was brought too soon before the

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committee? Postponing discussion items is a legitimate form of parliamentary procedure. The concern is that postponing discussion of many items listed on an agenda for one meeting creates frustration on the part of the committee members who begin to wonder why have this meeting at all. Also, clarity should be made as to what is meant by to “table”. The default parliamentary authority for the City is Robert’s Rules of Order. Nowhere in Robert’s Rule of Order is the term “to table” to be found. Under these rules, a group may postpone discussion to a specific time or occasion (postpone definitely), delay discussion of a topic to a later point within the meeting to deal with a more urgent matter (lay on the table), or discuss a matter fully without taking a direct vote on the matter (postpone indefinitely). Based on the review of the minutes, the phrase “to table” is used to postpone discussion of agenda items to the next committee meeting. It would be better to state that those agenda items are postponed to the next committee meeting to reflect accurately the intentions of the committee towards those agenda items5. The content of the minutes varies from committee to committee. For example, on occasion, the minutes for one or two different committees state that their meetings were ninety minutes in duration yet there is only one-and half pages of minutes which contain no recording as to what was discussed at the meeting. For committees, the minutes should be a blend of recording the decisions made at the meeting and a summary of key points arising during the discussion that occurred before those decisions were made. Recommendation

29. That minute taking standards for committee meetings be adopted to ensure

consistency throughout the committees.

5 However, the organization prefers to use the phrase “to table”, then a definition of what is meant by “to table” should be included a policy.

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For a particular committee, some members made comments about other members being a conflict of interest yet nothing further was noted in the minutes about how the conflict of interest was handled. Be advised, that the Community Charter’s regulations pertaining to a conflict of interest applying only to elected officials. If a community wants regulations for a conflict of interest to apply to non-elected officials who are committee members, then those regulations should be set out in a policy at the very least. Although, the committee members have signed conflict of interest forms, using these forms demonstrate adherence by the committee members to a formal policy that has been adopted on this matter. Recommendation

30. That the City adopt a policy concerning conflict of interest on the part of committee members, including a process for how to handle conflicts of

interest at the committee level. References were made in some of the minutes to reports drafted by staff. The reports referred to the authors’ positions but the minutes did not include any additional information that would be helpful to distinguish that reports from other reports. Recommendation

31. That, if reference is made to a report at a committee meeting, the minutes include the following details about the report:

(a) The title of the report;

(b) The name of the author and the title associated with the author’s position

within the organization; (c) The date of the report; and

(d) The file number of the report.

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Some of the agendas for the committees include a section entitled “New Business”. Care should be taken to define what qualifies as new business. Is the purpose of the “New Business” section to identify topics which have not be handled by the committee before? Is the purpose of this section to allow committee members to introduce new items because of the urgency of the situation which has arisen since the production of the agenda? This section should not be an opportunity for one committee member to “surprise” the rest of the committee by adding new items for discussion without adequate background material or time to contemplate the impact of the item. A committee member should contact the recording secretary prior to the distribution of the agenda in order to have new items added to the agenda in a timely fashion. Committee members should be highly discouraged from waiting until the “New Business” portion of the meeting to add to the agenda non-urgent and non-critical items unknown to the rest of the committee. Recommendation

32. That a list of acceptable reasons for discussing an item under “New Business” be incorporated into a policy.

33. That committee members refrain from adding late items to the agenda under

the “New Business” section. Some practices that were observed in the minutes should be continued. For example, adoption of the agenda by the committee at the start meeting demonstrates that the meeting belongs to the committee and that there is agreement as to how the Committee should spend its meeting time. The adoption of the agenda is a cue to the chair as to the committee’s agreement to address the topics in the order in which they will occur in the meeting. Another practice worth continuing is having the committee members sign the various forms at the initial meeting of the committee. These forms include the consent forms,

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conflict of interest, and communicating electronic message consent forms. In this way, the organization knows that the committee members are aware of the contents of the forms as noted in the minutes, can ask questions to which the same answer is given to all committee members, and have signed the forms as required at the same time.

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3.0 Comparison to Other BC Local Governments In order to gauge how other communities establish their committee systems to form a comparison for the city, the following communities were examined:

1. Kamloops with 8 committees and 4 subcommittees which reports to a parent committee;

2. Kelowna with 7 committees; and 3. Vernon with 7 committees.

No research was done to determine the amount of staffing resources required to support these committees. The consultant was able to conduct interviews with staff from the City Clerk’s office in Kamloops, Kelowna and Vernon. 3.1 Committees that are Common to the City and the Other

Local Governments Although the committee structure varies from local government to local government, there are occasions when local governments have similar committees to deal with topics that are of universal concerns to local governments. The current City committees will be listed below with the equivalent committee, if there is one, for the other communities listed underneath. Penticton – Affordable Community Task Force

• Kamloops – No • Kelowna – No • Vernon – Affordable Housing Advisory

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Penticton – Agricultural Advisory Committee • Kamloops – No6 • Kelowna – Agricultural Advisory • Vernon - No

Penticton – Arts, Creative and Cultural Innovations Committee

• Kamloops – Arts Commission • Kelowna – No • Vernon - No

Penticton – Community Revitalization Committee

• None in any of these communities. Penticton – Community Sustainability Committee

• Kamloops – Sustainable Kamloops • Kelowna – No • Vernon – No

Penticton – Development Services Advisory Committee

• None in any of these communities. Penticton – Economic Development Task Force

• Kamloops – No • Kelowna – No • Vernon – Economic Development Advisory

Penticton – Heritage and Museum Committee

• Kamloops – Heritage Commission • Kelowna – Heritage Advisory Committee • Vernon – No

6 Kamloops used to have an Agriculture Advisory Committee in 2012 and 2013.

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Penticton – Official Community Plan Task Force • None in any of these communities7.

Penticton – Parks and Recreation Master Plan Steering Committee • Kamloops – Parks and Recreation Committee • Kelowna – No • Vernon – No

Penticton – Penticton Arena Task Force

• None for any of these communities. Penticton – Penticton Creek Restoration Committee

• None for any of these communities. Penticton – South Okanagan Event Centre Select Committee

• None for any of these communities. Penticton – Tourism Development Task Force

• Kamloops – No • Kelowna – No • Vernon – Tourism Advisory Committee

Penticton – Transportation Advisory Committee

• Kamloops – No • Kelowna – No • Vernon – Transportation Advisory

3.2 Committees Unique to the Other Local Governments There are several committees which are unique to the local governments interviewed for this report which are listed below. The types of committees which exist only in that particular local government are reflective of the needs of the community.

7 Kamloops used to have an Official Community Plan: KAMPLAN 2015 Advisory Committee which was no longer in existence after 2016.

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Kamloops8

• Audit Committee (composed of Council Members only) • Coordinated Enforcement Task Force • Police Committee • Sister City Advisory Committee • Social Planning Council (to which the following subcommittees

report – the Diversity Advisory Committee, the Mayor’s Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities, Seniors Advisory Committee and Youth, Children, and Families Advisory Committee.

Kelowna

• Airport Advisory • Audit Committee (composed of Council Members only to

consider finance and human resource issues) • Civic and Community Awards Steering Committee

Vernon9

• Advisory Planning Committee • Audit Committee (composed only of Council members)

After reviewing the terms of reference for these particular committees, there is nothing to suggest that the City should constitute any of these particular committees. It is worthwhile to note that three of the four communities have an audit committee composed solely of Council members.

8 Kamloops used to have an Airshed Advisory Committee which was no longer in existence after 2012, a City-School District Joint Use Committee which was no longer in existence after 2013, a Community and Council Services Committee which was no longer in existence after 2012, a Food and Urban Agricultural Plan Advisory Committee which was no longer in existence after 2015, the Tranquille Road Beautification/Enhancement and Gateway Task Force which was no longer in existence after 2015, and the Wastewater Steering Committee which was no longer in existence after 2011. 9 Some committees which are listed on the City of Vernon’s website referring to outside groups to which Council Members are appointed such as the Joint Biosolids Advisory Committee, the Emergency Measures Policy and Planning Committee, and the Okanagan Basin Water Board.

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3.3 Description of the Committee Structure for the Other Local Governments

This section of the report will provide a brief description of the committee structure employed by three different local governments interviewed. 3.3.1 KAMLOOPS The City of Kamloops has been reducing the number of committees over the past few years to their current number of 8, not counting the 4 separate subcommittees which report to the Social Planning Council. Kamloops have been moving the terms of reference for committee out of bylaws and into policies to facilitate changes as needed for the committees. Committees are provided with strict mandates that are set out in their terms of reference. Recommendations made by the committees are incorporated into the material set out in the staff’s reports. Committee members are only permitted to serve a maximum of three years in a row before having to take a break for one year. Since the committee terms are for two years, committee members have an automatic break in service. A committee may have 1 or 2 Council members as Council liaisons. A Council member who is on a committee is not entitled to vote and is not entitled to serve as the chair or vice chair on the committee. Recruitment for committee members is done once a year through one massive advertisement to cover all the vacancies on the committees. Committee members are also encouraged to recruit others to apply to

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work on their committees. Corporate Administration places the advertisement in local newspapers on behalf of the City. The staff liaisons review all applications received and makes recommendations with reasons as to whom should be appointed to which committees. The recommended names are circulated to Council so individual Council members may indicate whom they prefer to serve on the committees. The Council members indicate their preferences and the persons who receive the most votes from the individual Council members are selected for the committee. The Mayor makes the appointments in an open meeting. Some organizations do have the ability to appoint someone as their representative on a committee. There are no regulations as to how these organizations may make their selections. The staff liaison on a committee is both the technical advisor and the recording secretary for that committee as there are no enough staff members in Corporate Administration to provide meeting support services. Usually, the staff liaison is a manager who works within the department most impacted by the mandate of the committee. As for training, there is no training provided to the committees and their chairs at the start of the committee’s term of office, as there are limited resources in Corporate Administration. Staff liaisons receive a binder which contains details as to Council’s expectations, how to handle questions, and some basic meeting details. There is a yearly meeting with the staff liaisons and Corporate Administration to review how the committees are functioning and to provide clarity as to organizational standards for committee operations. This meeting also provides the staff liaisons with an opportunity to discuss challenges facing the staff liaisons and to brain storm ways in which to deal with those challenges. Corporate Administration reviews the committee handbooks with the staff liaisons at this meeting, as well.

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Recommendation

34. That a yearly meeting between staff liaisons and Corporate Administration be

held to review how the committee is functioning. Kamloops has used task forces in the past for specific projects which arise at particular points in time. Upon completion of the project and submission of the final report to Council, the task force is dissolved. Council determines whether a new task force is required. Task forces also have terms of reference which are quite similar to the committees. 3.3.2 KELOWNA In 2008, Kelowna used to have 11 advisory committees. Since that time, City Council has reduced the number of committees to five 10 whose function is to provide advice to Council on specific issues. The committees consider specific topics which span across the organization, rather than having a department function focus. The reduction in the number of committees is reflective of the Council’s approach to using Committee of the Whole instead which meets weekly to consider policy direction which impacts the departments and their function. The terms of reference for the committees are narrow in scope for the subject matter to ensure accountability and clarity in terms of function of the committee. The committees provide staff with the opportunity to run through any big changes in terms of plans or approaches for input in advance of presenting those changes to Council. Any recommendations or advice given to Council by the committees are incorporated into the staff reports which are then considered either at Committee of the Whole or at a regular Council meeting.

10 The other groups include the Board of Variance and the Parcel Tax Review Panel.

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Committee members are appointed for the entire term of Council. So, a term of office for a committee member is four years. Because the existence of each committee is reconsidered at the start of a new Council’s term of office, there is no limit in place for the number of times that a committee member may serve on a particular committee. Council members do not serve on any of the committees in any capacity. There is minimal interaction between Council and committees, outside of Council having access to committee minutes. At the start of the committee term, the City engages in its recruitment process to find committee members to serve. The Corporate Administration places an advertisement advising of the committee positions. The department primarily responsible for a particular committee vets the applications. The department considers the special knowledge, skills or abilities required for the committee members as articulated in the terms of reference, when making recommendations as to who should serve on the committee. The department’s recommendations are placed in a report which is considered by Council at a closed meeting. The report includes not only the department’s recommended list of names but also the justification for the selection and all applications received and considered so that Council may see the pool of applicants from which to draw. The committee members themselves select the chair and vice chair of a committee at the start of the term. If a particular organization has representation on a committee, then that organization will select its own representative to serve as the committee member. A committee member who represents an organization is a non-voting member of the committee but can participate in any discussions. At least, two staff members are involved with any of the committee. One staff member, who comes from the department most directly

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affected by the mandate of the committee provides technical knowledge to the committee. The other staff member is from Corporate Administration to provide meeting support. The Corporate Administration staff member is expected to assist the chair and vice chair with meeting management and parliamentary procedure. The City provides orientation and training to all committee members at the start of the term and half way through the term. Chairs and vice chairs receive some additional training to assist them in these positions. If necessary, the City will provide additional training during the term to deal with specific needs of a committee. This training usually consists of a 15 minute session at the start of the committee to “brush up” on the particular area of concern. At the end of the committee’s term, Corporate Administration undertakes a review of each committee. Corporate Administration meets with the staff liaisons to identify any challenges or issues that arose during the term. Corporate Administration asks the committee members whether they are interested in continuing to serve on their current committee or on another committee or whether they wish to stop their involvement. Committee members who express an interest on continuing to serve must still complete the recruitment process and they are notified that there is no guarantee that they will serve on a committee. Corporate Administration reviews the existing terms of reference to determine whether any adjustments are necessary. Corporate Administration prepares an end of term report for each committee, outlining what the committee has done, what the committee has accomplished, and recommendations as to whether the committee served its purpose and whether any changes are necessary. The incumbent Mayor considers this report as part of the his or her review of the existing committees to determine whether those committee is still necessary to serve the needs of Council and the community. If Mayor determines that a committee should continue to exist, Council then reviews that committee’s mandate and the recommendations of staff

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and makes any required changes. If the incumbent Mayor is unsuccessful in retaining his or her position as Mayor, then the new Mayor will have the opportunity to review the committee system and make his or her own decisions about what changes, if any, should be implemented. [As an observation, as part of the discussion with the chairs, staff set out some specific questions about the continued existence of the committees. Staff asked whether the following assessments were applicable to the committee in question:

• Continue – the committee is productive and still has tasks to complete.

• Park – either the committee does not currently have tasks or projects, or another committee could take on its role. (This committee could be resurrected at any time.)

• Amend Terms of Reference and Continue – the committee may not have a current project but could be assigned a project or tasks to become beneficial.

• Eliminate – the committee does not support Council’s current focus, or does not add value.

• Replace with Another Resource – the City already has relationships with various other agencies and societies that may be able to provide feedback and recommendations.

These assessment descriptors can form part of the basis for the review of a committee at the end of Council’s term.] If Council decides that a committee should continue, based upon the end of term review, then the next step is to determine what, if any, changes are necessary to the committee. To provide some assistance from the committee members themselves in determining what needs to change, the committee members should complete assessments of how the committee is functioning. A sample of a committee meeting feedback form set out in Appendix 2 can be used throughout the year on a quarterly basis to get a sense from the committee members how

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well the meetings are working. A sample of a committee annual evaluation form set out in Appendix 3 can used by the committee members at the end of the year to get a sense from the committee members how well the committee is functioning as a group. A review of these feedback forms can be used to identify changes that are necessary to the committee overall and to identify problems which need to be address immediately before the end of Council’s term. Recommendation

35. That the City review each committee towards the end of Council’s term to

determine whether the committee is still needed to serve Council and if still

needed, what, if any, changes are required to that committee’s mandate, composition, or operations.

36. That the City:

(a) implement an evaluation system of the committees which incorporates

committee members’ observations on yearly basis; and

(b) review the comments received from those evaluations as part of Council’s end of term review of committees.

Delegations are not permitted to present to the committees. The City of Kelowna also uses task forces to deal with specific issues that arise in the community. A task force is given a specific project to completed within a specified timeframe. Task forces are determined by the will of Council and are only instituted on an as-needed basis. The Audit Committee is the only committee which is composed entirely of Council members, with no members of the public included. The Mayor serves as the chair of the committee and two other Council members form the balance of this committee. The purpose of the Audit Committee is to consider the financial and the human resources needs of the City’s operations.

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The Council Procedure Bylaw strictly governs the operations of the committees in terms of establishing meeting procedure and the agenda. Strict adherence to the agenda and strict limitation on the inclusion of late items to the agenda assist the committees in operating efficiently. Rather than specifying that the committees will meet on a monthly basis, the terms of reference state that the committees will meet at least 6 times per year, which enables the City to deal with committee members taking vacations during the summer months without having to cancel meetings. [As an observation, if a committee is not meeting on regular basis (i.e. monthly or quarterly), it may be better to state in the terms of reference that the Committee will meet at the call of the chair or upon request of two committee members.] The Agricultural Advisory Committee is the only committee to have alternate members. The alternate members receive the same orientation and training as the regular members. The alternates receive agendas, background material, and minutes as the regular members receive for each meeting. The alternatives are encouraged to attend the meetings but they are not able to participate in those meetings in which they are not serving as the alternate. 3.3.3 VERNON The City of Vernon undertook a core services review at the start of the current Council’s term. One of the results of the core services review was that Council reduced the number of committees from 14 committees to the 7 committees currently in place. The committees have very strict mandates under which they must operate. The mandates have broad subject matter than transcends a single department. Committees serve as referral groups which are established to provide their opinions to Council, as one of many factors

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for Council to consider when making a decision. Committees are not permitted to determine what issues they wish to consider outside of what has been referred by Council or to initiate any exploration any topics of the committee’s own choosing. A committee member’s term of office is for two years, unless the terms of reference indicate otherwise. For example, the term of office for the Advisory Planning Committee is four years. In general, committee members are eligible to serve for a second term of office on any one committee but not for a third term of office11 on that same committee. A committee member may serve on a different committee for an initial first term of office and a subsequent second term of office. The purpose of the term limit is to encourage new voices to become part of the discussion of the issues. Council members serve as active voting members on the committees, acting as a liaison between Council and the committee. Council members on a committee have a term of office of one year. Vernon uses advertisements in the newspaper and on its website to recruit committee members. If a particular committee requires the committee members to have certain skills or knowledge or a committee is having difficulty in finding persons to serve on it, existing committee members are encouraged to contact the people that they know to assist in the recruitment. Corporate Administration will gather all the applications which are submitted to Council for consideration during a closed meeting. Staff does not make any recommendations as to which applicants should serve on which committees; however, staff may indicate in a report if certain skills or knowledge would be beneficial for certain committees. Council “owns” the appointment process and is completely responsible for determining who serves on which committees.

11 However, Council may choose to appoint a committee member for a third term of office on the same committee, if Council so chooses. Generally, Council has not chosen to do so.

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External agencies which have a representative on a committee have the freedom to select whomever they wish to serve as their representatives12. However, the Committees of Council Corporate Policy requires these agencies to appoint different persons to different committees, rather than having the same person serve on all eligible committees. A staff liaison is assigned to each committee. The staff liaison is usually a manager or a senior manager in the department most impacted by the work of the committee. Usually the staff liaison is the person with the most knowledge about the topic matter within that department. The staff liaison is expected to provide guidance to the committee and to take action, if the committee is struggling with technical or procedural issues. The staff liaison is responsible for monitoring the committee’s operations and how it functions as a group. The City also assigns a person from Corporate Administration to provide meeting support but that person does not provide technical expertise on the subject matter. At the start of a committee member’s term of office, the staff liaison provides the committee member with a copy of the Committees of Council Corporate Policy and provides orientation for the committee members. However, committee members receive no further training beyond the initial orientation that staff liaison provides. The committees appoint their chairs and alternate chairs on an annual basis at the first meeting of the calendar year. There is not much training provided for the chairs and alternate chairs.

12 In order to gain knowledge from service users about how the City’s actions impact the service users, Vernon uses surveys to provide opportunity to comment on organizational operations, rather than having a representative from a particular industry serve on the committee.

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Delegations generally do not appear before committees, except if there is a specific application involving the delegation which may occur at an Advisory Planning Committee meeting. This approach is to reduce any confusion that may arise from the delegation thinking that it has the City approval, if the delegation has received the committee’s support. Delegations need to work staff members on issues impacting the delegation, not the committees. Vernon uses its ad hoc committees to function either as subcommittees for a committee or as a task force to complete a project. If an ad hoc committee is functioning as a subcommittee, that ad hoc must report to the parent committee at every parent committee meeting. In this way, the work of the ad hoc committee is documented in the minutes of the parent committee13 and the parent committee is informed as to what the ad hoc committee. Vernon requires all committee members to complete the training on bullying and harassment in the workplace. The committee members are required to review the video recording and to sign off on the policy, stating that they are aware that the bully and harassment applies to them and they are responsible for their actions under that policy. Recommendation

37. That the City require all committee members to complete bullying and

harassment training as part of their orientation to the committee process. 3.4 Best Practices from the other Local Governments One thing that all of the local governments interviewed were willing to do was to examine carefully whether a committee was still needed. If the examination showed that the committee had fulfilled its purpose or

13 This method is used so that Corporate Administration does not need to provide additional meeting support to the ad hoc committee.

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was no longer relevant to the Council’s needs, then those local governments removed those committees and re-directed the resources to other committees which better serve Council’s current needs. All of the local governments agreed that the terms of reference are a key starting point for the success of any committee. The terms of reference must clearly establish the mandate of the committee. The more tightly focused the mandate of the committee is, the better the committee can fulfill its mandate, without distraction. Council must be the body to set and approve the terms of the reference for the committee. Whenever the committee would like to expand its mandate, the organization must question what is the reason for the expansion and whether that reason aligns with what Council needs from this committee. This is not to say that a committee cannot suggest changes to the terms of reference nor that terms of reference cannot include an expanded mandate. Care should be taken to ensure that the committee is not doing more than what Council needs it to do. Orientation of committee members at the beginning of the committee’s terms is another tool to help the committee to function successfully. Even if there are committee members who possess a lot of experience of committees, those experienced members should still participate in the orientation session to ensure that all committee members are receiving the same message from the organization. Attendance by experienced committee members at this session helps to build cohesiveness in the committee. An orientation session enables the new committee members to ask questions outside of an actual meeting and to clear up any confusion about how the committee functions. Recommendation

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38. That the City establish an orientation process which is common for all

committee members and provided at the start of each committee’s term of

office.

39. That all committee members are required to participate in the orientation

process, irrespective of the number of times that a committee member has served on a Council committee.

The training of the committee members does not stop with the initial orientation session. If a committee is struggling with a particular issue involving its operations, as-needed training will help that committee to address the struggle. The as-needed training does not need to be lengthy. For example, a quick refresher on how to handle amendments to motions can be done in the first fifteen minutes of the committee meeting, still leaving sufficient time to deal with the items on the agenda. Separate training for chairs and vice chairs is critical for good committee operations. If the chair and the vice chairs know their roles and are confident in the execution of their duties, the committee can to function at a higher level. Training sessions for chairs and vice chairs should cover the following areas:

• Duties of the chair before, during and after the meeting; • Correct procedure to handles motions, amendments, and voting; • Tips on managing meetings; • Advice on how to prepare for a contentious meeting; and • Pointers for handling common but difficult situations.

Recommendation

40. That the City establish separate training sessions for chairs and vice chairs which covers topics that are specific to their roles and responsibilities.

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In addition, meetings throughout the year with all the chairs and vice chairs to discuss concerns impacting the chairs will can help:

• to ensure that the committee operations are similar from one committee to another;

• to provide chairs and vice chairs with a venue to discuss common concerns and challenges; and

• to offer additional training to assist them in their positions. Recommendation

41. That the Corporate Administration hold a meeting (a) with staff liaisons at least once a year to review the committee system

processes from a staffing perspective; and

(b) with the chairs and the vice chairs to review the committee system from a chair’s perspective.

A standard handbook for committees would be a useful reference guide for all committee members. The handbook can contain a variety of documents such as:

• descriptions of the various roles in a committee such as the chair, vice chair, committee member, staff liaison, and recording secretary;

• a list of the recording secretary’s responsibilities (a sample can be found in Appendix 1.);

• instruction sheet for chairs to ensure that proper procedure is followed and to cover the majority of situations that a chair is likely to face in a committee meeting14;

• description of basic parliamentary procedures; • any orientation materials that are used to train the committee

members;

14 Kelowna has such an instruction sheets which gives instructions to Chairs on how to do the following: (a) introduce an item; (b) deal with staff presentations; (c) use a speaking order list; (d) handle questions and discussion from members; (e) deal with applicants’ presentations, if any; and (f) handle a vote on the motion.

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• minute taking standards for committees to ensure consistency between committees and to use as a training tool for new staff members providing administrative support to the committee;

• a copy of any general terms of reference which apply to all committees, if any;

• copies of terms of references for all committees; • listing of staff liaisons; and • any other material that committee members need on a frequent

basis. The City of Vernon’s Committees of Council Corporate Policy contains several sections which could be used to form the framework for such a handbook for committees. Recommendation

42. That the Corporate Administration develop a handbook for committee

members. Rather than waiting on the adoption of the committee minutes by the committee before forwarding those minutes to Council, committee recommendations are incorporated into the staff report. This allows Council to have all of the information in one convenient location when making a decision. Training should extend beyond knowledge of the roles of the committee members and parliamentary procedure to include lessons on behaviour and decorum at meetings so that committee members what is expected of their behaviour. Vernon’s requirement for committee members to participate in bullying and harassment training is a requirement that the City should implement. Another aspect of training of committee members that should not be overlooked is the training in the area of Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (“FOIPPA”). While committee members will not likely to have to deal with FOIPPA matters

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on a regular basis, they should be aware of their responsibilities, in particular in matters involving privacy breaches.

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Recommendation

43. That committee members receive training in terms of their responsibilities

under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act as part of the orientation process.

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4.0 General Observations This part of the report will consider areas which have not already been addressed elsewhere and provide recommendations pertaining to those areas examined. At this point, it is appropriate to comment on some of the concerns identified in the committee member survey and the meeting with the chairs. One of these concerns is the amount of time that it takes for a committee to make progress on a particular item. From a decision-making process point of view, achieving consensus on a decision will always take more time than a simple “majority rules” approach. The purpose of a consensus decision making approach is to accommodate as many points of view when trying to achieve a result. Consensus does not mean that everyone is happy with the decision but it does mean that people can live with the decision, even if they do not like the decision. Committees, by their very nature, must take the time necessary to research a matter and develop alternatives to address that matter before reaching a decision. Council receives much valued and thoughtful advice from committees which take the time needed to arrive at a conclusion. Another concern was the degree to which committees are restricted from acting independently from Council. Committees in a governance framework are advisory bodies to the main decision-making body. As Council is composed of members who are ultimately responsible to the public, Council must set the direction in which the committees are to go. When committees act independently from Council’s direction, things go wrong. Much time and energy is wasted pursuing that which Council does not want. That time and energy could be better spent responding to the matters that Council has referred to the committee for comment. Committees can make suggestions for changes to their mandates based on the experience and operations of the committee. However, if there are any changes to be made to a committee’s mandate, the

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decisions to make those changes must be made by Council, not the committee 4.1 Corporate Policy for Committees and Terms of Reference When reviewing the terms of reference for the different committees, a number of common provisions were repeated in those terms of reference. Council could adopt a corporate policy which set out terms of references which apply to all committees in order to ensure consistency and uniformity between committees. Provisions which address the following topics can be included in the corporate policy for committees:

• Under general heading of Committee Function and Administration

o Role of Committees o Role of Task Forces o Accountability o Financial and Administrative Resources o Code of Conduct o Remuneration and Expenses o Reporting to Council o Scope

• Under the general heading of Committee Structure and Operations

o Recruitment o Appointment Process o Chair and Vice Chair – Roles and Responsibilities o Communication – Forms and Manner o Members o Role of Committee Members o Role of Council Members o Role of Staff Members o Role of Recording Secretary

• Under the general heading of Meeting Administration o Agendas o Meeting arrangements o Meeting Schedule o Quorum

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o Minutes o Any additional changes to parliamentary procedure

• Under the general heading of Interactions with Others o Public attendance o Delegations appearing before Committees o Interactions between Committees o Speaking on behalf of the Committee

A number of the provisions contained in Vernon’s corporate policy for committees which can be incorporated into the suggested policy. The City of Maple Ridge also has a concise Committees of Council policy which states many the key points listed above for the general policy. The Maple Ridge policy can be used as starting point that the City can adopt to its own needs. The corporate policy for committees should include the following provisions:

• the members will serve without remuneration but that the City will be pay for approved expenses incurred in the course of the members’ duties;

• the committee is not authorized to direct staff in terms of work to be completed15; and

• the committee has no authority to spend money or make budgetary decisions without Council approval.

Recommendation

44. That City adopt a corporate policy which applies to all committees and terms

of reference which apply to specific committees.

Once the corporate policy for committees is in place, then terms of reference for specific committees can be tailored to meet the needs for

15 If certain work of the committee needs to be done by the supporting staff member, it is better for the staff member to get authorization from the appropriate Department Head, who can determine whether the committee work fits with strategic plans and can be completed without financial impact on the organization.

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those committees. Provisions which address the following points should be included in the specific terms of reference.

• Purpose or mandate; • Membership and composition of the committee; • Eligibility to serve on the committee; • Term of office for the committee members; • Accountability to Council; • Frequency of the committee meetings; • Voting rights of the members; and • Staff support for the committee.

4.2 Examination of Mandates A Council should be clear on what the purpose of a committee is. If there is clarity on the purpose of the committee, then mandate of the committee is better focused. Is the purpose of the committee to do the following:

• to provide advice to Council on specific matters; • to raise awareness of specific issues within the community by

educating the committee member who can then discuss these issues with their family, neighbours and friends in an informed way;

• to build capacity in the community to engage in the political process; or

• to serve as ambassadors to the residents of Penticton by spreading the word and the logic behind some decisions?

Generally, committees which serve Council should have as their primary purpose the provision of advice to Council on specific matters. The other points listed as purposes above are by-products of well-functioning committees. However, they should not form the main purpose of the committee.

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A concern that generally arises with committees is the breadth of the committee’s mandate. If the mandate is too specific, then the organization often enacts new committees to cover new issues or policy areas. If the mandate is too general, then the potent exist for different committees consider the same issue from slightly different perspectives but arrive at different yet limited recommendations to address that same issue. It would be better to have as many perspectives as possible discuss the same issue in the same forum in order to arrive at a thorough understanding of that issue and to develop comprehensive recommendations to address the concerns arising from that issue. A few things that Council should keep in mind when examining the mandate of the committees include:

• Whether the subject matter aligns with and supports Council’s strategic plan;

• Whether the subject matter constitutes a major, current issue within the community; and

• Whether the subject matter transcends the work of an individual department and requires a comprehensive response by the organization.

Recommendation

45. That Council reviews the mandates of the committees on a yearly basis to

determine if any adjustments to the mandates are required. 4.3 Number of Committee Members The number of members per committee should work to support the mandate of the committees and the scope of the policy areas assigned to each of them. The number of members should not be so large as to create difficulties for the group to work as a whole. A manageable number of committee members is in the range of 7 to 9 voting members.

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The main concern with the number of committee members is whether there will be enough people available within the community to act as members on these committee. This situation can be particularly challenging if the committee requires the committee members to have specific skills, experience, or knowledge. The City may wish to consider stating in general terms in the terms of reference that there will be maximum number of X of members and indicate that preference will be given to persons who represent certain interests (also set out in the terms of reference) when making appointments to the committees. To ensure that the committee can still function even if it does not have all its member positions filled, the terms of reference can state that a quorum consists of the majority of members of the committee who currently hold a position. So if a committee only has 8 actual members but 11 potential members, the committee’s quorum would be 5 members (majority of 8, not 11) in order to hold a meeting. Recommendation

46. That City reviews its terms of reference to ensure that the quorum

requirement is a majority of all voting members who currently on the

committee. 4.4 Voting Rights of Members Unless otherwise indicated, the assumption is that everyone who is listed as a member of the committee has full membership rights16. For clarity, the policies should indicate who are voting members and who are only advisors to the committee and therefore do not have voting rights. The easiest way to do this is use the heading “Voting Members”

16 Membership rights include the right to receive notice, to have access to information and minutes, to participate by making motions, seconding motions, and debating, and to vote.

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and then list the people who are eligible and then the heading “Non-voting Advisors” and then list those people. Ideally, the committee should consist primarily voting members and few, if any, non-voting members. 4.5 Term of Office With the recent change in Council’s term of office, Committee members’ term of office should be at least two years as a minimum for regular committees and until the completion of the project for tasks forces, unless otherwise noted in the specific terms of reference. A term of office which is only one year in duration creates a lot of administrative work on any annual basis in terms of recruiting and training. New committee members just begin to feel productive by the end of their first year on the committee. However, three to four year terms of office may cause some potential applicants to decide not to volunteer to serve because the length of time commitment that impacts their personal lives. Council may wish to consider have some variability in terms of office and membership composition. For example, the length of time for a term of office may be tied to whether the person is a representative of a particular interest. For example, a particular committee could have the specific representatives from external agencies serve one year terms while the members from the community at large serve two year terms or vice versa. Council may wish to consider putting upper limits on the number of terms of office that a person can serve on any one committee before having either to take a break or to serve on another committee. Two consecutive terms of office may be a reasonable limit, as it coincides with Council’s four year of office. If an upper limit of two consecutive terms of office is established, what happens if:

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• a person serves one term, takes a break, serves a second term, takes a break and then wants to serve a third non-consecutive term; or

• a person serves two consecutive terms, takes a break and then wants to serve another two consecutive terms?

Then the City may wish to address whether there is a maximum number of cumulative terms in its policy. If recruitment is an issue, then there is probably no need to worry about the impact of cumulative terms. However, if there have been issues in the past with one person serving on one committee for a protracted period of time, the policy should state that a person can only serve two consecutive terms on one committee but then that person can serve two consecutive terms on another committee. Recommendation

47. That City include provisions in a committee’s term of reference indicating the term of office and the number of times a committee member can serve on any

one particular committee. 4.6 Role of the Elected Official It would be useful to specify what are the expectations of the Council Members who serve on committees. If the expectation is that one of the Council Members will serve as the chair and another will serve as vice-chair, then that should be stated in the policy. Otherwise, any voting member of the committee can serve as Chair of the committee, which may not be what Council envisions. Having a Council Member serve as chair or as vice chair at the very least will ensure that Council is kept apprised of what is occurring at the committee level. The main issue is what is the purpose of having Council Members serve on committee. If the purpose is to enable Council Members to develop their skills as chairing meetings so that they can function

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properly when they are required to serve as chair in the Mayor’s absence, then it makes sense to have Council Members serve not only as voting members but also to appoint them specifically chairs and vice chairs. If the purpose is to have the Council Members act liaisons between Council and the committee, providing a Council perspective on various issues to the committee17, then that purpose can be achieved by having the Council Members serve as non-voting members who can participate in the discussion but not in the vote. If the purpose is to have Council Members function as observers who merely report back to Council on what happened at the committee, then it would be better that no Council Members serve on the committees. The Council can receive the information that they need from the minutes of the committee and the comments from the committee which are included in the staff’s report. Ideally, if Council wishes the committee to reflect accurately the community’s perspective in its recommendations, Council would do better not to have any Council members serve on the committee. However, if Council wishes to ensure the committee has a person who understood the flavor of discussion and the reasons behinds the concerns expressed by the committee, then Council appoint at least one but no more than two Council Members to any one committee. In some communities, the Mayor is an ex-officio member of all committees. While this enables the Mayor to attend any meeting of any committee and to participate in the discussion, the reality is that the Mayor is busy enough with all of his or her other responsibilities and is unlikely to attend many committee meetings. Moreover, since all committee meetings are open to the public unless they are closed under the provisions of the Community Charter, the Mayor can still attend any committee meeting.

17 Council members who act as liaisons on a committee should take care that they do not become advocates for the committee at the expense of their responsibility to the citizens of the community.

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4.7 Accountability Although committee minutes reflect what happened at the committee meetings, committee minutes do not always show the full extent to which the committee is involved in the process. Ideally, a committee should provide a yearly report to Council on what the committee has accomplished and what it hopes to accomplish. The yearly report can also include the committee’s work plan for the upcoming year. A standardized template for committee reporting will simplify the effort required to produce the yearly report. Preferably the chair of the committee is the person who should submit the report to Council so that the chair, who has the best information about the operations of the committee, can respond to any questions raised by Council. Recommendation

48. That committee be required to present a report to Council on a yearly basis

setting what the committee has done in the past year and what is it work plan

for the upcoming year. 4.8 Administrative Support While committees serve an important purpose in providing a different perspective on the impact of certain policy decisions on the community, committees require adequate administrative support to carry out their work properly. Committees cannot function without administrative support. Members of the committees who are citizens volunteering their time to serve on the committee usually do not have the resources to serve the committee in an administrative capacity in addition to their member capacity. As part of the information provided in the survey members, staff gave the following information to explain the costs of these committees to the organization:

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• 16 committees • 96 meetings • 150 of meeting time • 39 Resolutions • $142,000.

Based on experience, this is a conservative estimate. It would be useful to have a general idea about impact of a committee in terms of staff time. The person providing administrative support to a committee has a number of tasks to be completed before, during and after a committee meeting in order to allow the committee to function properly. In order to gain an appreciation of these tasks, a list of some of the more basic tasks required for committee are found in Appendix 1. To gain an appreciation of the time required to complete these tasks, it may be appropriate to give a rough estimate as to the impact of a meeting in terms of staff hours. For example, for every one hour that a committee meets, the administrative support staff person will spend between two to three hours before the meeting and two to three after the meeting. So if a committee meeting lasts two hours, the administrative support staff person will spend at least 10 hours of time18 to support the committee. If the committee meets on a monthly basis, administrative staff support person will spend 120 hours a year at a minimum to support one committee. This does not include any time spent by other staff members to prepare reports and advise the committee. Using this same formula, an organization with 11 committees that meets monthly will incur roughly 1,320 hours of administrative staff support time. A full time employee is assigned roughly 1820 hours of work19.

18 Four hours of preparation for the meeting, two hours of meeting time and four hours follow up work after the meeting. 19 The number of hours actually worked by a meeting support staff person will be less when vacation, sick time and breaks are included in the calculations.

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The hours alone do not compose a complete picture of the costs of committees to an organization. Unionized staff must be paid overtime to attend meetings which occur outside of regular working hours which is usually the case with committees which include members of the public. Overhead and benefits are costs to be factored into the costs of dedicated administrative support. Since the costs to an organization in terms of administrative support for committees is not insignificant, an organization should make deliberate choices as to the number and the types of committees that it requires in order to function and the number of staff members that will serve the committees.

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5.0 Conclusion Overall, there is nothing to suggest that the committee system used by the City is deficient or inadequate for Council’s needs. In general, the City’s committee system can continue to function “as is”. As with any system, there are always improvements that can be made to increase the effectiveness and the efficiency of the system. The recommendations provided in this report are only suggestions to be implemented if the City has time, staffing resources, and finances to do so. If the City can only implement a few suggestions at this time, the top five suggestions to be considered with a view to such implementation are:

I. Review the mandates of each committee on a yearly basis to ensure that there is clarity in the purpose of those committees.

II. Adopt a corporate policy which sets out requirements applicable to all committees and separate terms of reference which sets out requirements which are unique to that specific committee.

III. Develop a committee handbook that can be used as reference materials for committee members and staff liaisons.

IV. Establish a training program for committee members and a training program for chairs and vice chairs.

V. Develop a review process which can be used to keep the committee system current and relevant.

These suggestions are prioritized so that the City can focus on one suggestion at time, a suggestion which establishes the foundation for the next suggestion. Some of the recommendations can be adopted right now without having to obtain Council approval as they are suggestions for how staff can better serve the committees. Other

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recommendations will require Council approval. Staff should take the time to consider which, if any, recommendations could be put forward to Council in order to “tweak” the committee system. These recommendations apply to both committees and task forces, where appropriate and applicable.

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Appendix 1 – Responsibilities for Administrative Support Staff Person

General Responsibilities

a) Keeps an official list of members of the group and papers and instructions pertaining to it

b) Notifies members of their appointments to the group c) Deals with all correspondence sent to committee and carry on all

official correspondence for the group d) Maintains and stores minutes and all related materials e) Is familiar with parliamentary procedures used by the group and

offer advice on such

Before the Meeting a) Arranges logistics of the meetings b) Prepares agendas in consultation with chair c) Informs chair of activities that have been referred to upcoming

meetings d) Ensures agenda is prepared and circulated e) Ensures necessary material and staff resources are available f) Sends out notices and notifies delegations g) Brings a copy of all governing documents and legislation of the

committee to every meeting h) Brings additional copies of the agenda package, in case the

members have forgotten to bring their copies i) Prepares the minutes in advance to the degree that is possible

During the Meeting

a) Keeps track of attendance at meetings b) Ensures that the adopted minutes are signed c) Offers information which members do not appear to have d) Finds previous mention of an issue in earlier minutes, if

requested e) Cautions if members’ actions appear to be inappropriate f) Helps phrase motions and amendments g) Requests that chair temporarily halt the meeting if comments are

flowing so fast that it is impossible to make an accurate summation

After the Meeting

a) Posts the adopted minutes to the website b) Updates the electronic versions of the documents and files the

signed minutes

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c) Sorts out comments, suggested actions and decisions expressed at meeting and produces an accurate summation within a reasonable time period

d) Finishes the preparation of the draft minutes and circulates those draft minutes to the staff liaison and the chair for comments

e) Deals with all correspondences sent to the group and carries out all official correspondence for the group

f) Authenticates all records and documents associated with the meeting by having the chair add his or her signature

g) Finalizes the draft minutes, once has received the comments from circulation.

h) Prints final version of the minutes for signature.

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Appendix 2 – Committee Meeting Feedback Form Date: _________________ Rate the following Excellent

4 Good 3

Fair 2

Poor 1

Were the issues discussed substantive? Were the materials provided helpful in understanding/resolving the issues?

Was discussion future oriented? How can our next meeting be more productive? Based on today's discussion, what should we discuss in the future? What was the most valuable contribution the committee made TODAY to the long-term welfare of the community? Please write additional comments on the back.

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Appendix 3 – Committee Annual Evaluation Form

Rankings go from 1 (Low or Disagree) to 5 (High or Agree)

Low Average High Area to examine 1 2 3 4 5 Committee operates under terms of reference, policies, procedures, and guidelines with which all members are familiar

Committee meetings are well attended with near full turnout at each meeting

Committee members receive adequate orientation and training for their roles and Council’s expectations

Committee members receive meeting agendas and supporting materials in time for adequate advance review.

Committee actively engages in discussion around significant issues.

Committee Chair effectively and appropriately leads and facilitates the meetings and work of the committee

The committee’s mandate is well understood and supported by the committee

Information provided to the committee is adequate to ensure effective decision making

Committee meetings are frequent enough to ensure effective progress

Committee meetings are long enough to accomplish the committee’s work

Committee members participate in discussions fully and positively.

Committee has a range of talents,

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experience, and knowledge to accomplish its mandate The committee uses its members’ talents and skills effectively

Communication is strong and clear between Council, the committee and staff

Staff support before, during, and after committee meetings is effective

Please make any other comments about the work and effectiveness of our committee.

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Attachment D

Recommendations List To Execute Now:

1. That the criteria for evaluating committees be included as part of any future

evaluation of the committee system.

2. That the mandate for each committee be reviewed on a regular basis to determine

what, if any, anything needs to be changed.

3. That the role of the Chair and the Vice Chair be reviewed with each committee.

4. That the terms of reference for the committees indicate the term of office for the Chair

and the Vice Chair (1 Year)

5. That, where appropriate, financial or budget information be included in the

supporting materials provided to the committees.

6. That the staff liaison ensure that supporting material is included with the distribution

of the agenda.

7. That Council consider the appointment of individuals who traditionally have not been

well represented on committees when possible, if the pool of applicants includes such

individuals.

8. That the practice of attributing of comments to a particular committee member be

abandoned.

9. That the practice of receiving delegations at committee meetings mirror any

restrictions placed on delegations appearing before Council.

10. That delegations deal with staff members outside of committee meetings.

11. That a reporting mechanism which is the same for all committees be developed to

provide committees with updates as to their issues before Council.

12. That a numbering system for committee motions be adopted.

13. That all committee members be provided with a prioritized reading list of materials at

the start of their terms of office (where & when appropriate).

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14. That the agendas of task force meetings dedicate a portion of the meeting at

which updates on the work plans are provided.

15. That minute taking standards for committee meetings be adopted to ensure

consistency throughout the committees.

16. That, if reference is made to a report at a committee meeting, the minutes include

the following details about the report:

a. The title of the report;

b. The name of the author and the title associated with the author’s position

within the organization;

c. The date of the report; and

d. The file number of the report.

17. That a yearly meeting between staff liaisons and Corporate Administration be held

to review how the committees are functioning.

18. That the City establish an orientation process which is common for all committee

members and provided at the start of each committee’s term of office.

19. That the City establish separate training sessions for Chairs and Vice Chairs which

covers topics that are specific to their roles and responsibilities.

20. That the Corporate Administration hold a meeting

a. with staff liaisons at least once a year to review the committee system from a

staffing perspective; and

b. with the Chairs and the Vice Chairs to review the committee system from a

Chair’s perspective.

21. That Council reviews the mandates of the committees on a yearly basis to

determine if any adjustments to the mandates are required.

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Part of a New Chair Orientation:

22. That committee members be reminded of the importance of attending committee

meetings on a frequent basis.

23. That the Chair follow up with a committee member who has missed two or more

consecutive meetings to determine what is impacting the committee member’s

ability to attend.

24. That the first step in dealing with disagreement on the part of one or a few

committee members is for the Chair to have a conversation with those committee

members outside of the meeting to investigate what are the core issues or

concerns.

General Education:

25. That a refresher session on the purpose and use of motions be provided to all

committees.

26. That the practice of recording that consensus on a matter was reached without a

resolution to summarize that consensus be abandoned.

27. That committee recommendations involving financial matters include any upper

limit for any money to be spent and the identification of funding sources, if

possible. STAFF

28. That a list of acceptable reasons for discussing an item under “New Business” be

incorporated into a policy.

29. That committee members refrain from adding late items to the agenda under the

“New Business” section.

30. That the City require all committee members to complete bullying and harassment

training as part of their orientation to the committee process.

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31. That all committee members are required to participate in the orientation process,

irrespective of the number of times that a committee member has served on a

Council committee.

32. That committee members receive training in terms of their responsibilities under

the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act as part of the orientation

process.

Work to Be Completed/For Later:

33. That a bio for each committee member be circulated to the rest of the committee

at the start of each term so that the committee members can get to know each

other. (This does not need to be compulsory for those committee members who

do not wish to be included.)

34. That

a. committee members who have passed the threshold for the number of

meetings that can be missed be removed from the committee; and

b. a person to replace the missing committee member be appointed in his or her

place (mechanism would need to be created for this)

35. That a committee’s composition has more “members at large” than “members who

represent specific interests or certain organizations.”

36. That the terms of reference for committees be reviewed to determine whether

subcommittees should be permitted.

37. That minutes be prepared for any meetings of a subcommittee and provided to

the parent committee.

38. That the practice of designating alternates for committee members be abandoned.

39. That the City adopt a policy concerning conflict of interest on the part of

committee members, including a process for how to handle conflicts of interest at

the committee level.

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40. That the City review each committee towards the end of Council’s term to

determine whether the committee is still needed to serve Council and if still

needed, what, if any, changes are required to that committee’s mandate,

composition, or operations.

41. That the City:

a. implement an evaluation system of the committees which incorporates

committee members’ observations on yearly basis; and

b. review the comments received from those evaluations as part of Council’s end

of term review of committees.

42. That the Corporate Administration develop a handbook for committee members.

43. That the City adopt a corporate policy which applies to all committees and terms

of reference which apply to specific committees.

44. That the City include provisions in a committee’s term of reference indicting the

term of office and the number of times a committee member can serve on any one

particular committee.

45. That the committee be required to present a report to Council on a yearly basis

setting what the committee has done in the past year and what is it work plan for

the upcoming year.

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ATTACHMENT ‘E’

Population # of

Committees Admin Staff

Hours

Penticton 33,617 14 1,680 Vernon 40,116 7 840 Victoria 85,792 13 1560 Kamloops 90,280 12 1440 Kelowna 127,380 7 840

0 50 100 150

Kelowna

Kamloops

Victoria

Vernon

Penticton

Population

0 5 10 15

Kelowna

Kamloops

Victoria

Vernon

Penticton

# of Committees

0 500 1000 1500 2000

Kelowna

Kamloops

Victoria

Vernon

Penticton

# of Admin Staff Hours

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