The Yorkton Business Improvement District wants to open a dialog between businesses within the City of Yorkton and the city itself. To do this, they have begun a series of coffee meetings, hosted by locations throughout the city to give the chance for people to talk about their concerns.
Phil De Vos with YBID says that the series of meetings was spurred on by a desire to have businesses speak to city administration, and this series of meetings was inspired by similar informal meetings, frequently held in B.C.
“We want to see what kind of reactions we get.”
Topics brought up to the city were concerns about pop-up car dealerships and what the city can do about them, as well as discussion about what is going on with the intersection at Highway 9. There was also talk about ideas around a shop local campaign in the city.
The initial meetings have been positive, with a higher than expected turnout and an active discussion. De Vos says it’s a fact finding mission, and in that sense the meetings have already done their job.
De Vos says the vision for the meetings into the future is to have two a year, one between business and city council, and one with businesses talking to each other, and listening to people who have had success in the city.
“We have a lot of business people who are really smart, and they have been very successful, and we tend to say ‘we’re not going to listen to that guy, because he’s from here, we’re going to bring in so-and-so from Toronto or Vancouver.’ We’ve got a lot of smart people here, they just don’t have the opportunity to show us how smart they are.”
For his part, Mayor Bob Maloney says they want to have an open and accessible city council, and they want to meet people to be able to talk with council about their concerns with what is going on in the city.
“I think it’s a good opportunity to get the word out and talk to people one on one. That often works, and I think works well.”
While the meetings are a good opportunity to talk to the mayor and members of council, Maloney emphasizes that the meetings are far from the only time that people can speak to them if they have a concern.
“I would like to think that our doors are always open, that people can always pick up the phone or knock on my door... I think this is a good opportunity for people to come down as a group and have a chat.”
The next meeting is on Thursday, September 8 at West Broadway Grill at 7:00 p.m. followed by one on September 15 at 2:00 p.m. at the Yorkton Public Library. The meetings are free, as is the coffee served.
