Welcome
Welcome to the
first of what I hope will be somewhat regular editions of this newsletter.
One of the
storylines resulting from the 2018 Municipal Election on October 24th
was voter turnout, with just under 17% of eligible voters casting a ballot.
I believe voter
engagement doesn’t just happen in the 5-6 weeks of an election campaign, but
through the four year term on city council. As such, I hope the production of
this newsletter on a regular basis will allow me to keep you up-to-date on
things happening not only with myself as Councillor for the South Centre Ward,
but also things within City Hall, the City of Brandon and our community.
If you wish to
receive this newsletter via email, please send me your email address. I will also be posting on my Facebook Page (Search
for South Centre Ward) or on my blog at http://southcentreward.blogspot.com/
Swearing In
Ceremony
Members of the
2018-2022 Brandon City Council, including myself, were officially sworn in at a
ceremony held on November 8th at Brandon City Hall.
This marked the
end of a busy week, especially for me and Shaun Cameron as the two new members
of council.
In addition to the swearing in ceremony, Shaun and I went
through an orientation session which included the details of how a council
meeting is conducted.
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| Photo Courtesy City of Brandon |
Even though I had attended several council meetings in
the past, as both a reporter covering the event and as part of a delegation, it
was still good to get to know the exact details of how things are run.
Open Government Web Portal Upgraded
The City of
Brandon launched an upgraded Open Government web portal that aims to take
citizen access to government information to the next level.
One of the new
features is Municipal Budget Allocator, which essentially allows residents to ‘set
the budget’ for next year. The information submitted from these ‘mock budgets’
will be compiled and shared with Mayor and council ahead of budget
deliberations in January.
The portal
includes a refresh of the City of Brandon’s Corporate Scorecard, and tons of
other information.
As a big believer
of transparency and openness, this is a tool I’ve used regularly in the past
and will use even more in the future. It can be accessed at http://opengov.brandon.ca/
Out and About
I attended the MNP Canada Games Torch Relay, which was
held on November 2nd at the MNP Hall at the Keystone Centre. Mayor
Rick Chrest was part of the ceremony, and got an opportunity to ‘run’ with the
torch.
The torch is
stopping at nearly 50 communities across the country as it makes its way to Red
Deer for the 2019 Canada Winter Games, which will be held from February 15th
to March 3rd.
The Brandon stop
was significant for two reasons. Brandon is one of just two communities to have
hosted both the Canada Summer and Winter Games (1997 and 1979 respectively) and
the relay sponsor, MNP, got its start in Brandon.
That same night
(November 2nd), I took in ‘A
Night at the Bass Building’, an open house of the beautifully redone
building located at 29 – 10th Street.
There are a number
of businesses and services being offered at the 30,000 square foot, four-story
Bass Building.
I encourage you to
stop by and check out this jewel of downtown redevelopment.
Want to be Involved?
Applications are
currently being accepted by the City of Brandon for the various boards and
committees of City Council. The deadline
to submit your application is November 22nd, and application forms
are available at the Legislative Services Offices on the second floor of City
Hall, or online at here.
In addition,
applications are also being taken for any citizens interested in serving on the
Brandon Police Board. These appointments are for a three-year term beginning
January 1st. Again, application forms are available at the
Legislative Services Offices on the second floor of City Hall, or online at here.
Upcoming Events
Nov.11 – Remembrance Day Service, 10:40 a.m. (Westoba
Place)
Nov.17 – Brandon Santa Parade, 6:00 p.m. (Downtown
Brandon)
Nov.19 – First meeting of 2018-2022 Brandon City Council,
7:00 p.m. (Brandon City Hall)
Nov.26-28 – AMM Convention (RBC Convention Centre,
Winnipeg)
Did You Know?
There is an online system for reporting issues on the
City of Brandon’s website? The link is http://www.brandon.ca/report-an-issue.
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