Happy New
Year!
Here is a
recap of some miscellaneous discussions and topics from the past few weeks:
Health: I called and chaired a meeting
with reps of the Ministry of Health, Heartland Health Region, and the Kindersley
and District Health and Wellness Foundation to ensure Kindersley has the level
of health services that are required. A broad range of topics was covered, and
the theme was growth and capacity. We came up with a bit of a plan that has
been used in another jurisdiction and we will see if it can be used here. Our
MLA, Bill Boyd, is also helping us in this as well.
Governance: During our regular governance
coaching session before the December Council meeting, we, as Council, realized
that though we may have a Carver model, we are not a Carver Council. We follow
many of the policies, have changed some, and will be changing more policies but
we do not strictly adhere to the Carver model. We are developing the Kindersley
Governance system that is unique to Kindersley’s situation.
By-election: The deadline for nominations is January
2, 2014. If you are considering whether to put your name forward, let me
encourage you: This is a terrific time to be a Councillor. We are growing, and
as a result, we have some tough but exciting decisions to make. We have spent
the past year developing some new policies and we will be looking at passing
and implementing these new policies in the new
year. Council is planning a retreat on March 8th and 9th
to help the new Councillor get up to speed, do some future planning, and work
on some governance issues. We are also trying to see if George Cuff, a
well-respected municipal expert, will meet with us during our retreat. If you
are considering allowing your name to stand for the election and want to meet,
please give me a call and I’ll be more than happy to meet with you.
Budget: As we come to the end of 2013,
numbers indicate that the human resource (HR) portion of the operations budget
will be approximately 1% over budget. This 1% includes all overtime as well.
Considering the HR expenses related to the landfill fire in October, this is a
good result.
Happy New
Year! I hope the changes you envision for yourself in the next year are
realized.
Please
write or phone if you would like me to discuss a particular topic. If you have
any questions or comments, drop me a line at the town office or email me at
mayorenns-wind@kindersley.ca. You can also check out my blog at
http://mayorjohn.blogspot.ca/. I appreciate your feedback.
Have a good
holiday season!
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