OLDS — Councillors and Town of Olds administrative staff are encouraging local residents to join various boards and commissions because there are several vacancies.
During council’s Sept. 14 meeting, chief administrative officer Michael Merritt listed some of the entities looking for volunteers to join them: Family and Community support services; FCSS; the Olds Municipal Library board, the public art advisory committee and a new committee — the Olds policing advisory committee.
“We hope the public will look at this carefully,” he said.
Mayor Michael Muzychka asked Merritt if the town is having an unusually tough time finding people to sit on local boards and commissions.
“I think for the most part we’ve been able to fill most of our public at large (vacancies) although sometimes we don’t get as many members as we request,” Merritt said.
Muzychka said perhaps members of the public don’t know or “don’t understand” that the opportunity is there to join these groups.
Coun. Heather Ryan pointed out she was a member of the local Municipal Planning Commission before being elected to council.
“I found the role there was very rewarding and I encourage the public at large to join all of our other boards,” she said.
“They’re quite rewarding and obviously you gain a lot of knowledge and you are helping to be engaged in the community.”
Councillor Mary Jane Harper suggested more citizens might be willing to join boards or committees if they didn’t have to commit for more than a one-year term; at least initially.
“You might be able to attract more people if they knew that it was only for a one-year term,” she said.
Ryan understood Harper’s thinking but disagreed.
She said some people who sit on some boards or commissions – MPC for example – need to be trained, which is an investment on the community’s part.
Besides, she said, it can take more than one year for people sitting on those boards or commissions to get a good handle on how they operate.
“I think it’s probably best to have them on there for two years rather than trying to reinvest that (every year),” Ryan said.
“I think two years is a good term. It gives an idea,” she added.
“The first year is kind of learning curve and the second year they get into the meat and potatoes, so I’m happy with the two-year term.”
Ryan said if people find they don’t like sitting on those boards or commissions they can always resign.
Muzychka echoed those thoughts.
