Dear Editor,
In response to the article and CMNews Editor’s question as to whether we feel our community has been well served by our CCRD Board of Directors during this first year of their mandate, my answer is an unequivocal NO!
The formula for acceptable local government performance is really not that complicated.
1. Consult with the community on what you are planning to do. 2. After carefully considering all the factors, do it, fairly and efficiently. 3. Communicate to the community what you have done.
While I know that certain individuals continue to work hard to do a good job, collectively, I give this CCRD administration a failing grade on all three counts.
There has been no consultation, no transparency, no communication, no explanation – and therefore no way we can have any confidence that decisions have been made in the public interest after thorough analysis and thoughtful consideration.
In other communities, interested citizens can at least rely upon Board minutes to keep informed as to what their elected officials are doing. CCRD’s Board minutes are so sketchy and devoid of detail as to be almost useless as a source of information.
Directors focused on their own personal agendas; Directors who don’t attend Board meetings for months in a row; wide spread abuse of the use of Alternates (who were elected by nobody and are accountable to no one) to make important, big money decisions for our community. All of these things are symptoms of a dysfunctional governing body.
After months of tension and instability at the staff level, the November Board minutes tersely announce the hiring of an ‘Interim CAO.’ That the CCRD did not even bother to share either the process or this important announcement with the community speaks volumes.
They say that citizens get the government they deserve. I don’t know whether we deserve what we have, but I fear that, without significant change, our Valley will pay the price in ways we don’t yet even know about, long after this current administration is gone.
Joan Sawicki
Stuie
