Last week those of us in the media paid a lot of attention to the City of Estevan, especially our public works sector and the yeoman work being carried out by their employees.
Not only did these plow, grader, truck and snow blower operators have to work against the blizzard conditions and extremely cold temperatures, they were also challenged by irresponsible, unthinking motor vehicle operators who continued to drive as if it were still August … ignoring the red and blue flashing lights that identified personnel and equipment at work, for their benefit.
Of course the city employees were being well paid for what they were doing, and it is their job, but at times, they must have felt more than a little frustrated with some of the local driving antics, especially if their fatigue factor was high.
Fortunately for everyone, including the careless drivers, there were no serious accidents.
At the same time, it was easy to forget the logistical activity going on behind the front line scenes.
Our civic administration and governing bodies were spending additional time ensuring the right things were being done, whether it was directing policing and emergency response routes or making last minute arrangements due to the fickleness of the weather.
While all this was happening, the city’s main governance body was being kept busy.
Our city councillors were continually engaged in one form or another, with three of them, learning the details that accompany their newly elected positions at the seven-member council table.
In fact, last week, the annual ritual of dividing up the committee responsibilities was carried out among the council members.
Our seven councillors accepted appointment to no fewer than 24 civic committees, meaning there were three or four committee appointments for each, on top of their obvious roles as our local policy makers.
Council needs to be engaged and responsible with attendance at these various committee or organizational sessions since these are groups that also spend taxpayers’ money. Our property taxes don’t just go toward education, water, sewer, snow removal, police and fire protection. There are all kinds of avenues for our funds to be spent and it is up to council to keep tabs on where that money is going, who is spending it and why they are spending it.
For those reasons alone, our councillors are making their presence felt on such committees as the emergency measures and police commission, as well as on the RM of Estevan liaison committee and an economic development team, airport and the arts council. They will also have representation at the Estevan Bruins’ table, the Woodlawn Regional Park conference room and the Business Improvement District meeting room along with the housing authority, Creighton Lodge, art gallery and two museums, humane society, exhibition group and library board … and on and on.
Ratepayers don’t often get an opportunity to learn exactly what each of these committees do within our community on a daily basis, except when the council representatives report back to the them in a public forum. It may not always be exciting stuff, but it is accountable stuff and it’s necessary since the public and the dollars we spend on property taxes need to be seen to be spent efficiently on our behalf and for the good of all.
With our councillors keeping an eye on public committee activities, we receive additional assurance that someone responsible is minding the store.
None of council’s committee work can be deemed unnecessary. Just reading the list can be a boring chore, but rest assured, their presence is required and valued.
