Municipalism in Guelph

Summary of Discussion about Guelph Municipal Government                   March 17, 2019

-based on the discussion notes taken by Matt and supplemented by Stan –the following elements have been noted following our first round of exploring where we go with these

Who are we?

We are engaged citizens of Guelph collaborating to craft a future for the common good of all residents by evolving how participate in and collectively make decisions through our municipal government.

The common good includes but is not limited to -smart growth, protection for environment, biological diversity, social justice, homelessness, minimum wage, employment …

-we are individuals coming together as umbrella of interrelated issues that impact life at the municipal level

Why are we coming together?

·         Good decisions are not being made with current municipal processes and culture

·         Participation in local government is not easy

·         A culture currently exists that sees individuals and groups who are concerned and informed about an issue as pariahs –not to be authentically included in the decision-making process

·         Current municipal practices encourage vested interests –the common good often seems to be lost

·         How decisions are made is a hidden process

·         Elected officials do not always seem to be leading but following staff

·         Challenges facing us are complex and interconnected yet issues are often siloed and hence decisions are poorly made

·         A culture that bureaucratizes responses to community needs predominates taking agency from individuals, neighbourhoods and organizations and transfers it to the paid municipal sector –results in alienation from local government, poor decision for the common good  and increased costs

What are our principles and values?

·         improve municipal government for the common good

·         engage and respect perspectives from across the political spectrum

·         research and science-based decision making

·         we are a big tent

·         transparency

·         we cultivate strength and apply our political power to achieve our goals guided by our values

What role might we play?

We work to help people become better citizens by:

-helping everyone to understand how municipal government works and does not work and uncover hidden processes to ensure that everyone can participate and expect to be heard

-learning how to be an effective delegate at city hall?

-understanding and sharing how decisions get made a city hall

-organizing and building individual and collective agency and capacity 

-better communications

-engaging people in what is happening here –including young people –by applying organizing practices

-we will build a groundswell of support –engaged citizens

-We reach out, identify, encourage and train leaders in our community

We are connectors and facilitators of collaboration:

-there are lots of groups active locally on various issues, but they are disconnected and siloed –we strive to bring these together for greater effectiveness

-we nurture and support and connect those individuals and groups who spend time and energy to become informed leaders on issues of interest to them

-we are agents of collaboration between interested citizens and organizations in the city

-we learn the skills to bring together individuals and groups who normally oppose each other but who can come together for some specific goals

We work to evolve municipal government:

–we strive to understand the system of local government and how it works and should work for all

-so that it values the input from those who want to build our community over those who first want to profit from it.

-we bring forth the will of citizens to have these acted upon by municipal government

We bring about positive Change:

-we strive for understanding based on interconnection of issues and holistic solutions

-we will work to make it easier for people to be informed about what they think is important to them

Strategies

-we need a landscape assessment. What groups do we have, who’s doing what and where and how? We have lists of people! Also identifying: what are the key limitations each group is undergoing?

-let’s invite these people into a conversation

-identify some early wins

-make it simple when possible

Areas of Interest Identified

-processes of government in this community

-processes of engaging individuals and groups in local decision making (politics)

-Enhanced municipal representation on council  -review of councillor geographic representation, number, part time-full time

ranked ballots. Best opportunity = upcoming ward boundary review

-local civil society groups to have a different relationship with councillors –collaborators in finding solutions

Resources Identified

-several email lists of local people interested in related issues

-book –Rules for Radicals

-book –Collaborating with the enemy

-others in this community who are having similar conversations

Community Engaged Scholarship Centre uog