1.) Many municipal supports, grants and fee-waiver programs are geared toward registered businesses and incorporated not-for-profit organizations. What would you do to ensure that smaller, grassroots volunteer groups that are doing legitimate community work – but do not have the capacity to incorporate or maintain a formal board of directors – can also access meaningful municipal support?
I think we can have a fair process and still recognize that not every community initiative will fit neatly into the same organizational structure. This term, Council put a Discretionary Grant Policy in place so requests for public funds and resources could be considered using clear criteria. That’s important. We have a responsibility to manage public resources carefully and be able to explain how decisions are made. At the same time, no policy is perfect. If we find that the way the policy is written creates unintended barriers for legitimate grassroots groups, Council can review it and make improvements.
The goal shouldn’t be to remove the criteria. It should be to make sure the guidelines give us enough flexibility to fairly consider the different ways community initiatives get started, while still having appropriate accountability for public resources.
Information on the current policy and process can be found here: Municipality of West Nipissing – Discretionary Grants
2.) Facility costs can make community programming financially impossible for small volunteer groups. Some groups may require a theatre, hall, meeting room or other municipal space multiple times throughout a year in order to provide programming and events.
Would you support developing a separate community-use rate or fee-waiver system for verified grassroots volunteer groups, rather than making incorporation or registered not-for-profit status the primary gateway to affordable access?
Municipal facilities are community assets. At the same time, there are real costs associated with operating them, and requirements such as insurance and responsible use can’t simply disappear. I think the goal is to find a reasonable balance between making facilities accessible and protecting taxpayers and the Municipality.
I would be open to reviewing how we currently set facility rates and whether there are ways to better recognize community benefit. But I don’t think the answer is simply to give certain groups free or reduced access based on whether they are incorporated or not-for-profit. We have existing groups that pay for their facility use, and we need to be fair to them as well.
I think we need to look at the bigger picture: who is being served, what the community benefit is, how often the facility is being used, and what other support the group may already receive.
3.) Small community organizations often begin with only a handful of dedicated volunteers. Requiring them to establish boards, incorporate, complete extensive applications or find established organizations willing to partner with them can create significant barriers before an idea ever has the opportunity to grow.
If elected, what specific changes would you pursue to make the Municipality a facilitator for grassroots community initiatives rather than another administrative hurdle those volunteers must overcome?
When someone comes to me with a good idea, I try to start with “How can we make this work?” rather than listing all the reasons it might not.
Over the past four years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of people and groups who saw a need or an opportunity and decided to do something about it. No More Tears, Dream Catchers and the work to re-establish the Club des Bons Amis in Crystal Falls are good examples.
A big part of my role has been helping people understand what the Municipality can and can’t do, who they need to speak with, what steps are required and when something needs to come before Council. Sometimes that means connecting them with outside resources or organizations. Sometimes it means helping work through a roadblock. We also have a great Community Services team who are passionate about our community.
But supporting community initiatives also comes with a responsibility to the broader community. When public money, facilities or other municipal resources are involved, we need to be able to explain why we provided that support and what the community got from it. I think that includes looking back afterwards — did it achieve what it set out to do, and was it a good use of public resources?
To me, it’s about being willing to help while still being responsible with taxpayer resources.
4.) There have been occasions where grassroots organizations have stepped forward to create programming or events when there was a gap in the community, including working collaboratively with the Municipality. When one of those initiatives becomes successful, sustainable or financially viable, what principles do you believe should govern the Municipality’s relationship with the volunteer organization that helped build it?
More specifically, how would you ensure that successful community partnerships remain genuine partnerships and that volunteer organizations are not unintentionally displaced from initiatives they helped establish?
I think when a group of volunteers puts the time and effort into building something for our community, we need to recognize that work and be careful about how the Municipality steps in as an initiative grows. If the Municipality is considering taking on a larger role in something that a volunteer group has built, we should talk together about what that means for the group, what happens to the work they have put in, and how we can continue working together.
5.) West Nipissing recently introduced a Volunteer Recognition Program, which is a wonderful way to acknowledge the people who give their time to our community. But recognition and support are not necessarily the same thing.
If elected Mayor, what one concrete policy, program or change would you advocate for that would make it easier for grassroots volunteers and small community groups – including those that are not registered not-for-profits – to turn good ideas into sustainable programs and events for West Nipissing?
I’ve already said that I would be open to looking at the Discretionary Grant Policy and making changes if we find that it is creating unintended barriers. But before changing a policy, I think we need to understand exactly what isn’t working. I would commit to meeting with you and three or four other community groups with similar structures to hear directly about their experiences and what they would need to be successful.
There are some practical questions we need to work through: What does “verified” need to look like? How do we assess whether a group is able to responsibly manage public funds? What reporting is reasonable? And what should we expect from a newer, volunteer-led group that may not have the administrative capacity of a long-established not-for-profit?
I think there is value in bringing those groups into the discussion before making changes. If we want to improve the process, we should start by listening to the people who are trying to navigate it.