Mayor’s Monday Mailbag – Jan. 15, 2024 – Why Did The Format For Burlington's Standing Committees Change?
Welcome to the Mayor’s Monday Mailbag, an initiative Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and the Mayor’s Office launched to share weekly answers to questions from the public we’ve received through our main email inbox at mayor@burlington.ca or the Mayor’s social media platforms.At the end of the month, we publish a roundup of those most pressing questions we’ve received in the weeks prior.
Mayor’s Monday Mailbag – Jan. 15, 2024QUESTION:"Three Burlington standing committees were merged into a single Committee of the Whole - why the change?”ANSWER:The City of Burlington's Committee of the Whole meeting is part of a new standing committee structure intended to help streamline Council business.The Committee of the Whole takes over the roles of three previous standing committees: the Community Planning, Regulation, and Mobility (CPRM) Committee; the Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk, and Accountability (CSSRA) Committee; and the Environment, Infrastructure, and Community Services (EICS) Committee.Committee of the Whole meetings will be comprised of distinct sections reflecting the previous three standing committees.Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward will open the meeting, oversee any delegations, complete all consent items, and then pass the gavel to the Councillors who continue to serve as Chairs of the segments of the meeting dealing with CSSRA, CPRM and EICS regular agenda items.Please see below a breakdown of this year’s chairs and vice-chairs for these segments:
- For CSSRA regular items at Committee of the Whole: Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan (chair), and Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte (vice-chair);
- For EICS regular items at Committee of the Whole: Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns (chair), and Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith (vice-chair); and
- For CPRM regular items at Committee of the Whole: Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte (chair), and Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns (vice-chair).
We appreciate the public's patience as Council and City staff work through this new process. Community members are encouraged to share their feedback with the City, the Mayor and their Ward Councillor over the coming months on what works in the new standing committee structure for them and what they feel may need some improvement. All feedback is shared with Senior Staff and the Clerks Department.
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