Latest News
Photo courtesy City of Richmond
Council committed to transparency and accountability
Published 4:24 PDT, Thu April 18, 2019
Last Updated: 2:12 PDT, Wed May 12, 2021
Richmond City Council is strongly
committed to transparency and accountability, which are fundamental concepts of
democracy, wherein citizens are invited to participate in the democratic
process and to hold their elected representatives accountable. Recently, we
have taken steps to make it easier to review Council members’ voting records
and to access the Council agenda and reports in advance of scheduled meetings.
Currently, individuals interested
in learning how a Council member voted for a particular issue need to determine
what date that topic or item was on the Council agenda and then read through
the minutes to find out who voted for what. This can be an onerous process for
residents. On March 25, Council voted to support creation of an online voting
record with a searchable database. The project will be completed by mid–year
and was able to be accommodated within this year’s budget allowances. No
ongoing additional staff time is needed to maintain the voting database, so it
is economical and ensures Council’s voting records will be more easily
accessible for the public.
Council and Committee Meeting agenda packages are currently
released to the public on the City’s website on the Friday night prior to the
next week of meetings–with the first scheduled meeting of the week starting as
early as 4 p.m. on Monday. This may present a challenge to participation from
interested residents as few people are avidly checking for the package online
on a Friday evening. Even if they did see the agenda package, staff would not
be available to respond to queries from the public on the weekend, and it may
be difficult for the public to reach Council members as well. I’m proud to say
that on March 11 Council passed a resolution to have Agenda packages available
five business days in advance of the Monday meeting. Folks will now have more
time to be able to connect with staff, members of Council, and other interested
parties.
These are just the first two
steps to strengthen our commitment to accountability and transparency for the
citizens of Richmond. To find our scheduled meetings, click.
2 Hours of free financial consulting
Jai Xin Planning Ltd.
C$120.00 C$0.00
Use any of our home staging service and get a second month rental for free!
MiiX Interiors
C$500.00 C$0.00
Get 10% off any order
Phantom Screens Lower Mainland
C$200.00 C$180.00
